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00-2411 Jutzi-Johnson v. U.S.

By: dmc-admin//September 10, 2001//

00-2411 Jutzi-Johnson v. U.S.

By: dmc-admin//September 10, 2001//

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“[W]e should consider whether there was any causal relation between that negligence and the suicide. We think not. Johnson did not commit suicide because he had sores on his body. As nearly as can be reconstructed from the evidence, he committed suicide because he was upset about being in jail, separated from his family (including a daughter born while he was in jail) and facing a prison term if he was convicted. The scratching and the suicide were the consequences of an underlying unhappiness. Nothing the jail’s staff could have done would have alleviated Johnson’s concerns about separation and imprisonment. They were inherent in his situation. True, had the jail’s psychologist interviewed him, Johnson might have expressed suicidal thoughts and in that event the jail would doubtless have placed him on suicide watch and thereby prevented him from killing himself. (At least it would have moved him out of a cell that, because of the exposed pipe near the ceiling, made it easy for an inmate to hang himself.) ‘Might’ is the operative word. Johnson had no history of psychiatric illness and had not revealed any suicidal ideation at his intake exam. Until nudged by his roommate to visit the physician’s assistant he had made no effort to contact the medical (including psychiatric) personnel of the jail. It is sheer conjecture that an interview with the jail psychologist would have produced sufficient information to have enabled the psychologist to infer that Johnson was a suicide risk and place him on suicide watch. The psychologist would have noticed Johnson’s sores – would even, we may assume, have pronounced him or his behavior bizarre. But bizarre behavior and suicidal behavior are different, and there is no evidence that suicidal tendencies can be inferred from the kind of behavior that Johnson exhibited.”

Reversed.

DISSENTING OPINION: Ripple, J. “Here, prison officials knew that Mr. Johnson was suffering severe emotional distress. Given that knowledge, they had an affirmative duty to aid Mr. Johnson. Time and again, when presented with information that Mr. Johnson was suffering, officials failed to act. The combination of this inaction caused Mr. Johnson’s death.

“I believe it to be entirely permissible for the district court to determine that the collective failure of prison officials to provide medical assistance for Mr. Johnson was the proximate cause of his death. Accordingly, the district court’s conclusion is not clearly erroneous and must be upheld.”

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kocoras, J., Posner, J.

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