Death in Custody

Mission Statement The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. We achieve this through award-winning journalism, partnerships with other news outlets and public forums. In all of our work we strive to educate and enlarge the audience of people who care about the state of criminal justice. Diversity and The Marshall Project The Marshall Project is committed to building and maintaining a diverse workforce, and not only because our name is a tribute to a hero of equal justice. We best serve…

When people are deprived of their liberty, responsibility for their fate rests mainly with the detaining authorities, who must guarantee the life and physical integrity of each detainee. Therefore, when someone dies in custody, it is only fitting that an independent investigation be conducted – regardless of the presumed cause of death, which may be natural or acci-dental, but which may also have been an instance of unlawful killing or the result of ill-treatment or inadequate conditions of detention. A prompt, impartial and effective investigation is essential for ascertaining the cause of death, for preventing similar incidents in the future…