SAN JOSE >> A federal judge has advanced a lawsuit that questions suicide-prevention policies in Santa Clara County jails, which was filed by the family of a man who claims he was put in a setting that gave him the means to hang himself in his cell five years ago.

District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled that the children of Frederick Regal can argue to a federal civil jury that the county did not have reasonable measures in place to ensure he was sufficiently supervised and provisioned while in custody at the Elmwood men’s jail in Milpitas.

In a written opinion issued Wednesday, Labson Freeman allowed a Monell claim — which alleges unconstitutional practices by a local government entity — to proceed toward trial. It is the only claim from the original lawsuit to survive summary judgment, the phase in which a judge decides what claims warrant a jury’s attention.

The judge dismissed liability claims against a county jail therapist after determining the therapist was not authorized to take more restrictive measures reserved for high-risk inmates because Regal did not receive that classification. Other claims, and defendants including the jail deputy who discovered Regal gravely injured, were dismissed from the case in the years since it was first filed in 2022.

On the claim that did make it to trial, Labson Freeman wrote that “at the time of Regal’s death, the county appeared to have a practice of housing moderately suicidal individuals in cells with obvious hanging points and that the county’s written policies did not require additional protective measures to be undertaken when an individual at risk of suicide was placed in a cell with obvious hanging points.”

Plaintiff attorney Todd Emanuel said he was pleased that Regal’s children “will have their day in court.”

“We are eager for a jury and the public to see how the county ignored the most obvious and well-known risk of suicide. Although the county knew about this specific risk for many years, it prevented its jail mental health clinicians from providing any reasonable or effective safeguards to a clearly suicidal inmate,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Mr. Regal’s death was entirely preventable.

“We look forward to seeking justice for his children and to setting a precedent that will spur all jails and correctional facilities to provide basic suicide prevention interventions lacking in this case.”The Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office declined to comment on the judge’s ruling on account of it being pending litigation.

The plaintiffs contend Regal should have been placed in a “suicide-resistant cell” and given blankets and clothing expressly designed so that they could not be readily turned into ligatures. The county has countered that such an accommodation required Regal to be deemed a high suicide risk and noted that his classification as a moderate risk is undisputed by the plaintiffs.

That policy gap, according to the judge, is a matter for a jury to evaluate.

“While the county may have a robust suicide-prevention program that offers many protective measures (particularly for those at high risk of suicide), the asserted problem is that the program does not include sufficient protective measure options for those at moderate risk of suicide,” she wrote. “In this case, the court finds that plaintiffs have successfully identified a policy and/or a custom and practice on which liability might be based.”

Regal was booked into the Elmwood men’s jail on July 28, 2020, after he was arrested by San Jose police, who went to his home to investigate a shooting report and found him reportedly under the influence of controlled substances. According to court documents, a nursing intake screening did not find him to have any suicidal feelings, but a separate mental health intake “noted ‘vague’ suicidal ideation and several acute risk factors,” and he was given a moderate risk rating.

The therapist, who was a defendant until the judge’s ruling Wednesday, required deputies to check on Regal every 15 minutes. Labson Freeman determined that was the extent of what the therapist could order because Regal did not qualify for more restrictive jail housing and bedding and clothing provisions, which are reserved for inmates classified as a high suicide risk or who are the subject of an involuntary psychiatric hold.

When a deputy checked on Regal’s cell about 6 a.m. the following morning, he could see through a window that Regal had used a bedsheet to hang himself from an upper bunk. Regal died a week later.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Regal’s children — one adult and two minors — joins an array of litigation alleging substandard jail conditions and inmate treatment, with the county paying out more than $20 million over the past decade to settle jail misconduct lawsuits.

They have involved high-profile cases such as the 2015 fatal beating of mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree by three jail deputies who were later incarcerated; the massive head injuries suffered by Andrew Hogan, also a mentally ill inmate, while riding unrestrained in a jail-transport van in 2018; and the case of Juan Martin Nuñez, who became paralyzed after severely injuring himself in his cell — then was reportedly neglected, then improperly handled, by jail staff.

Additionally, after Tyree’s death and the ensuing fallout prompted a top-down review of custody operations, the county settled an inmate lawsuit by entering into a federal consent decree agreement to improve jail conditions.

Trial proceedings for the Regal lawsuit have not been scheduled.

If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.