Ted Poe: “I rise in support of H.R. 738, the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2009. The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 738, the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2009. The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 directs the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department of Justice to collect data on deaths that occur in two primary stages of the criminal justice system: First, deaths occur 'in the process of arrest' or during transfer after arrest; and second, deaths that occur in jail and in prisons. The Bureau of Justice Statistics report that between 2001 and 2006 there were 18,550 State prisoner deaths. Likewise, there were an additional 5,935 local prisoner deaths and 43 juvenile deaths between 2000 and 2005. Half of all State prison deaths are the result of heart disease and cancer; two-thirds involve inmates age 45 and older; and two-thirds are the result of medical problems which were present at the time of admission when they were incarcerated. Although illness-related deaths have slightly increased in recent years, the homicide and suicide rates in State prisons have dramatically decreased over the last 25 years.”