Those who have been killed in jail or prison have had their human rights and personal freedoms stripped from them. In the past decade, over 10,000 inmates have lost their lives in both city and county jails. Many of the deaths are attributed to sickness or disease of some kind, while many others are the result of negligence or abuse from prison guards or other inmates.
Whether the death was the result of inadequate or insufficient health care, abuse, or mistreatment of some kind, these men and women did not deserve to lose their lives, and now their families are left to suffer in their absence.
What Constitutes a Jail or Prison Death Case
A death in custody does not have to be a high-profile incident to give rise to a legitimate legal claim. Many of the most actionable cases involve failures that went unaddressed for weeks or months, including untreated medical conditions, ignored requests for mental health care, unsafe housing assignments, and inadequate supervision of vulnerable inmates. When a facility’s negligence or a corrections officer’s misconduct contributes to an inmate’s death, the surviving family may have legal recourse under both state wrongful death law and federal civil rights statutes.
Indiana law recognizes that incarcerated individuals retain certain constitutional rights, including the right to adequate medical care and protection from known risks of harm. When those rights are violated and a death results, families are not powerless. The attorneys at Wagner Reese have handled these complex cases and understand the specific legal frameworks that apply when pursuing justice for a loved one lost in state or local custody.
The Legal Basis for Pursuing a Jail or Prison Death Claim
Families who have lost a loved one in custody may have grounds to pursue a claim under one or more legal theories. Wrongful death claims under Indiana law allow surviving family members to seek compensation for their losses, including funeral costs, loss of companionship, and financial contributions the deceased would have made. Separately, Section 1983 civil rights claims may be brought against government officials or facilities that violated a person’s constitutional rights while in custody.
Deliberate Indifference and Negligence
The legal standard most often applied in jail and prison death cases is “deliberate indifference,” which refers to a situation where prison officials knew of a substantial risk to an inmate’s health or safety and failed to act. This is a demanding standard, but it is one that experienced attorneys know how to meet with the right evidence. Negligence claims, by contrast, may apply in cases involving private contractors, medical providers working within a facility, or other parties who owed a duty of care to the inmate.
Understanding Compensation in Custody Death Cases
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, deaths in correctional institutions have been tracked and reported across the country for decades, and the data consistently show that a significant portion of these deaths involve medical failures and inadequate care rather than unavoidable causes. When negligence or a civil rights violation played a role in your loved one’s death, the law provides a path to financial recovery.
Compensation in these cases may include damages for the pain and suffering your loved one endured, the financial contributions they would have made to the family, funeral and burial expenses, and the emotional loss suffered by surviving family members. In cases involving extreme misconduct or willful disregard for an inmate’s safety, punitive damages may also be available. An attorney from Wagner Reese can review the facts of your situation and help you understand what recovery may look like for your family.
Why These Cases Are Difficult to Pursue Alone?
Government entities and their legal teams move quickly to protect their interests in the aftermath of a custody death. Critical records, surveillance footage, and incident reports can disappear or become inaccessible without the right legal steps in place. Having an attorney involved early in the process is not just beneficial; it is often essential to preserving the evidence needed to build a successful case.
If you have lost a loved one who was serving a sentence, the jail and prison death lawyers in Indiana at Wagner Reese want to assist you in restoring justice to your family. Our Indianapolis personal injury lawyers understand that nothing can replace the loved one you have lost, but our legal team can assist you in recovering damages so your family will not be burdened by the stress of financial difficulties on top of the emotional grief with which you are already dealing. Jail death statistics:
- In 2011, 3,353 men and women lost their lives in state prisons.
- That same year, the prisoner mortality rate rose to an alarmingly high 254 of every 100,000 inmates.
- Only approximately 35% of inmate deaths are the result of suicide. The remainder occurs as the result of inadequate health care, accidents, abuse, or neglect.
- California, Florida, New York and Texas reported over 1/3 of all jail and prison deaths between 2000 and 2009.
Between 1998 and 2006, civil rights violation cases declined from 17% of all federal cases to 13%. Just because a declining trend is recognized, however, doesn’t mean civil rights violations are a thing of the past.
Civil Rights Violations & Prison Negligence Facts
- The majority of civil rights violation cases are over disputes between private parties.
- Prison conditions must meet health and safety standards in the U.S.
- From 2000 to 2006, median damage awards to plaintiffs in civil rights trials were between $114,000 and $154,500. Wagner Reese works hard to recover as much as possible for our clients.
- The government is responsible for providing medical care to prison inmates.
How Wagner Reese Handles Jail and Prison Death Cases
Wagner Reese, LLP approaches these cases with the same level of dedication the firm brings to all catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters. The firm’s attorneys are continuously recognized by Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America, and Wagner Reese has maintained its Tier-One Best Lawyers Law Firm year after year. With a combined 150+ years of legal experience across the firm, the attorneys at Wagner Reese understand how to navigate the unique challenges of custody death cases.
The firm works on a contingency basis, meaning families never pay out of pocket to pursue justice for their loved one. Wagner Reese takes on a limited number of complex cases each year, which means every client receives focused, personalized attention rather than being processed through a high-volume legal pipeline. The goal in every case is the same: maximum accountability and maximum compensation for the families left behind.
Taking Action After a Loved One Dies in Custody
The aftermath of a custody death is overwhelming, and the clock starts ticking from the moment of loss. Indiana’s statute of limitations for wrongful death and civil rights claims is time-sensitive, and delays in investigation can compromise the strength of a case. If you believe a family member’s death in a jail or prison was the result of neglect, abuse, or a civil rights violation, speaking with an attorney as soon as possible is the most important step you can take.
The catastrophic injury and wrongful death lawyers at Wagner Reese are ready to listen to your family’s story and advise you on the best path forward. Wagner Reese can assist with gathering records, identifying liable parties, dealing with insurance carriers, and building a case that reflects the full weight of your family’s loss.
If your loved one has been the victim of a civil rights violation, prison negligence, or jail death, the Indiana wrongful death lawyers at Wagner Reese want to help you bring justice back to you and your family.
Call Wagner Reese at (888) 204-8440 or contact us online to schedule a free case consultation.
