Justice Department Failed to Report Nearly 1,000 Deaths in State and Local Prisons: Senate Committee

An external view of Northern State Prison in Newark, N.J., is seen on Jan. 18, 2021.Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

A probe by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the Government Accountability Office has found that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is failing to adequately and efficiently collect data about deaths in state prisons and local jails and that the true number of deaths is likely much higher.

The report (pdf), a culmination of a 10-month investigation, focused on whether the DOJ has complied with the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) of 2013.