38 people have died in county jails so far this year, surpassing the rate of the deadliest years on record.

How are people dying? Los Angeles County has not yet publicly issued causes of death for everyone who has died in county jails in recent months. And even once even once autopsy reports are finalized, they don’t tell the whole story. When the coroner rules that a death is the result of “natural causes,” jail conditions can still be to blame. Researc ...

Three people have died at Rikers in the last two weeks. Deaths in New York City jails have already more than doubled last year’s total.

Carlos Cruz, 43, died at the George R. Vierno Center (GRVC) at the Rikers Island jail complex on September 3. The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) said officers responded to Cruz, who appeared to be having a seizure, at around 7:49 p.m. Doctors and emergency medical workers tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m. ...