Published August 4, 2010

After a rash of prisoner suicides in Massachusetts, this tweet last night from the Boston Police Department (@Boston_Police):

PRISONER SUICIDE ATTEMPT: At District 7 in East Boston, attempted to strangle self with underwear.

Eight suicides in correctional facilities this year, four times the national average. What is going on here? In his fine piece for Morning Edition yesterday, WBUR’s Sonari Glinton posed that question.

The suicide problem in Massachusetts is complex. The deaths aren’t in the same prison. There’s no common type of prison. They are not all in segregation. And many of the inmates hadn’t shown any signs of mental illness at all. So with no clear problem, Correction says there’s really no clear-cut solution.

In the 1990s, tough-on-crime Gov. Bill Weld stripped state prisoners of privileges like hot meals, family days and television, seeking to “reintroduce inmates to the joys of busting rocks.” Is it time to redesign the correctional system?