General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Native American Activist Found Dead in Jail Cell After Traffic Fine Arrest [View all]www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/shsplj.pdf
Suicide death rate declined sharply from the 1980s to the early 2000s. For 2001/02, the Texas rate was substantially less that the rate for Rhode Island or Maryland or Vermont, but that's what small number statistics get you. Lots of ways to skew the numbers in this report that make for outrage but little understanding; I almost regret posting it.
It's worse in local jails than prisons, but that makes sense. Jails don't have the same levels of security and monitoring; they're short-term holding facilities and the staff wear many hats. In some ways the distribution by section of the country also makes sense, but given internal variation I doubt that a truly coherent story could be devised with getting into the details.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/suicides-kill-more-inmates-homicide-overdoses-accidents-combined-f8C11072563
This is 2013. NBC points out that suicides exceed drug ODs and homicides.