Suicides in custody: administrative and judicial instances in the management of deaths in the São Paulo prison system

Abstract

This project seeks to enter the field of research on prison lethality, contributing to thinking about the state's actions and the influence of prison in the production of deaths by suicide under prison custody in the state of São Paulo. The Brazilian prison system, recognized by the Federal Supreme Court as an unconstitutional state of affairs, produces serious rights violations daily through omissive and commissive policies. Therefore, it is possible to understand, ultimately, how the criminal justice system plays a central role in the production of deaths that occur under state custody. Thus, mobilizing documentary research methodologies in judicial processes and in-depth case studies, the project aims to map the performance of judicial and administrative bodies in the management of deaths by suicide in the São Paulo prison system, seeking to understand how these agencies apprehend and react to these deaths.