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In Sinkov v. Americor, the Second Circuit recently affirmed the lower court’s ruling in a prison suicide case, wherein it was held that defendant Americor Inc., a for-profit company providing “services” to Putnam County Jail, deliberately disregarded the known suicide risk to Sinkov, an inmate who hung himself in his prison cell.

On appeal, Americor, Inc. contested the jury award of $750K in damages, arguing that it had no basis for knowing that Sinkov was a suicide risk, notwithstanding the fact that (1) Sinkov did not fare well on the suicide intake form; and (2) that there are both state and federal standards for ascertaining whether prisoners are suicide risks (see e.g., Prison Suicide: Guide to Prevention [pdf]). The Second Circuit disagreed with Americor, Inc.

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