The Justice Department told lawmakers Friday that Jeffrey Epstein had been placed on suicide watch in July, but was later removed after a psychologist at the Metropolitan Correctional Center determined it “was no longer warranted.”
The official confirmation of the move came in a letter sent Friday afternoon to the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee that shed little new light on the ongoing investigations into any mistakes or mismanagement at the Manhattan facility where Epstein hanged himself earlier this month though it provided several details about how the federal prison system deals with inmates considered at risk of suicide.
“In (Bureau of Prisons) facilities, suicide watch is typically a short-term and highly restrictive intervention measure,” Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNN.
“Upon the termination of a suicide watch, the psychologist will make recommendations to support the inmate’s safe management, such as housing with a cellmate or participation in treatment interventions,” Boyd wrote.
Epstein’s in-custody death drew rare bipartisan opprobrium from Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Democrat and Republican on the committee, respectively, who listed nearly two dozen questions about the conditions at the Manhattan Correctional Center and slammed “severe miscarriages of or deficiencies in inmate protocol” in a letter to the then-acting head of the Bureau of Prisons. – READ MORE