# Justice Lee White *Man named in the Minnesota record as the second of two men to die by hanging in the same cell of the Sherburne County Jail.* Justice Lee White is named in two at-issue records about deaths in the [[Sherburne County Jail]] in [[Minnesota]]. The first record states that he hanged himself in the same cell where [[James Lynas]] had died. It places his death four years after Lynas's, and after the fixes recommended following the first death had not been made.[^1] The record shows no office, appointment or ruling under this name. It does not show him holding judicial office.[^1] Both deaths ended in settlements, of $2.3 million and $1.5 million.[^1] The second record concerns a State of Minnesota inspection of the jail on June 21, 2022, which scored the facility 99.21 percent compliant. The same inspection listed as a concern that well-being checks were conducted "at a pace too quickly to observe sign of life." The record identifies that as the defect alleged in White's death.[^2] ## Who - The record names Justice Lee White as a man who died by hanging in the Sherburne County Jail, in the cell where James Lynas had earlier died.[^1] - The record does not establish White's age, the basis on which he was held, or the date of his death.[^1] ## When - The record places White's death four years after the Lynas death. It gives Lynas's death year as 2016 according to Prison Legal News and as 2017 according to the Star Tribune and MPR, and its flag notes the discrepancy.[^1] - The State inspection that recorded the well-being-check concern is dated June 21, 2022.[^2] ## Where - Sherburne County Jail, Minnesota. Both deaths occurred in the same cell.[^1] ## How - According to the record, Lynas told guards repeatedly that he intended to kill himself. He died in a blind spot outside officers' view.[^1] - The record states that White died after the fixes recommended following the Lynas death were not made.[^1] - The defect alleged in White's death is well-being checks conducted too quickly to observe signs of life. The 2022 inspection recorded the same practice.[^2] ## How much - Two settlements are stated: $2.3 million and $1.5 million. The record flags both matters as settled. It does not expressly assign each amount to a family.[^1] ## How many - The record states that two men died by hanging in the same cell.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The State's own inspection and the alleged cause of death appear side by side in the second record. On June 21, 2022, inspectors scored the jail 99.21 percent compliant. Under "concerns," they wrote that well-being checks were conducted "at a pace too quickly to observe sign of life." The record states that this is the precise defect alleged in White's death. The finding was recorded as a concern rather than a violation, and the score stayed above ninety-nine percent.[^2] The record lists mn.gov and mprnews.org as its sources and flags the inspection as a state agency record. It does not carry a court finding on whether the inspected practice caused White's death.[^2] The first record states that the Lynas family refused a non-disclosure agreement. According to the record, that refusal is the only reason the second family could cite the first death. The record lists court and news sources (mprnews.org, prisonlegalnews.org, startribune.com) and flags both matters as settled.[^1] The court filings, inspection report and news reports on which both records rest are not among the citable sources for this article. Each footnote below carries the White House anchor URL attached to its record. That URL does not itself document the Sherburne County Jail. The facts above are stated as the at-issue records give them.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record AI-Sherburne-009, *The Warehouse County & the Two Offices Edition* (undated; sources listed by the record: mprnews.org, prisonlegalnews.org, startribune.com) — states the Lynas and White deaths in the same cell, the four-year interval, the unmade fixes, the $2.3 million and $1.5 million settlements, and the refused non-disclosure agreement. Its flag records the 2016 (PLN) and 2017 (Star Tribune/MPR) discrepancy in Lynas's death year. The linked URL is the record's anchor, a March 2025 White House presidential action, which does not itself document the jail. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record AI-Sherburne-010, *The Warehouse County & the Two Offices Edition* (June 21, 2022 inspection; sources listed by the record: mn.gov, mprnews.org) — states the State inspection's 99.21 percent compliance score, its concern that well-being checks were conducted "at a pace too quickly to observe sign of life," and that this is the defect alleged in White's death. The linked URL is the record's anchor, a March 2025 White House presidential action, which does not itself document the jail. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/