Jeffrey Epstein, the financier recently arraigned on sex-trafficking charges, was found dead in his cell this morning following an apparent suicide. Epstein’s body was found by prison officials; per the New York Times, “It was not immediately clear on Saturday whether the authorities had put in additional safeguards to watch him after” Epstein’s reported suicide attempt last month.
Epstein was being held at the infamous Metropolitan Correctional Center, an imposing single-building facility located in downtown Manhattan. MCC is often called the “Guantanamo of New York,” and once housed the drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.
Epstein had long associated with several high-profile players in the worlds of politics and finance, and some of his accusers have alleged that he operated a vast sex-trafficking ring.
Much at this point remains uncertain, but what does seem “immediately clear” is that prison officials failed to prevent an already-suicidal inmate from accessing the means to hang himself. The basic protection of inmates from themselves and others is a central responsibility of corrections officers and prison employees. Both the facilitation of retributive justice and the integrity of our penal system more broadly depend upon this central duty, which was found wanting in Manhattan this morning.