Articles for Mississippi Prisons

After Inmate Deaths, Mississippi Faces Pressure To Reform Its Prisons
4 years, 8 months ago

After Inmate Deaths, Mississippi Faces Pressure To Reform Its Prisons

NPR  

After Inmate Deaths, Mississippi Faces Pressure To Reform Its Prisons Enlarge this image toggle caption Debbie Elliott/NPR Debbie Elliott/NPR At the end of a workday, Cheryl Porter pulls into the gravel drive of her one-bedroom travel trailer in Brandon, Mississippi. "Because of the sheer number of people in the state's care and custody, they can't safely house or manage the …

Reform Image State Inmate Department Johnson Reeves
New lawsuit: Mississippi prison has ‘abhorrent conditions’
4 years, 10 months ago

New lawsuit: Mississippi prison has ‘abhorrent conditions’

Associated Press  

— The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is a violent, rat-infested place where inmates live in “abhorrent conditions” and their medical needs are routinely ignored, attorneys say in a new lawsuit filed on behalf of 152 prisoners The suit was filed in federal court Tuesday, and attorneys are asking for class-action status to cover all current and future inmates at …

Inmates Parchman State Mississippi Prisons
DOJ To Investigate Mississippi Prisons After Spate Of Inmate Deaths
4 years, 11 months ago

DOJ To Investigate Mississippi Prisons After Spate Of Inmate Deaths

NPR  

DOJ To Investigate Mississippi Prisons After Spate Of Inmate Deaths Enlarge this image toggle caption Rogelio V. Solis/AP Rogelio V. Solis/AP After a string of inmate deaths in Mississippi that began late last year, the Justice Department announced Wednesday that it is opening a civil rights probe into the state's penitentiary system. The department's civil rights division says it will …

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Feds investigate Mississippi prisons after string of deaths
4 years, 11 months ago

Feds investigate Mississippi prisons after string of deaths

Associated Press  

— The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the Mississippi prison system after a string of inmate deaths in the past few months, officials said Wednesday. The investigation by the Justice Department’s civil rights division will specifically focus on conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility …

Conditions State Department Inmates Mississippi Prisons
Foretold ‘uprising’ hits cash-starved Mississippi prisons
5 years ago

Foretold ‘uprising’ hits cash-starved Mississippi prisons

Associated Press  

— The leader of Mississippi’s underfunded prison system was pleading with lawmakers for money to hire more guards and pay them better in 2012 when he warned, “I see trouble down the road.” Christopher Epps, a longtime Mississippi Department of Corrections employee, would later go to prison himself for collecting $1.4 million in bribes. But during budget hearings in October …

Prisoners State Tennessee Inmates Unit Corrections Guards
Rights groups call for federal inquiry into Mississippi prisons
5 years ago

Rights groups call for federal inquiry into Mississippi prisons

Al Jazeera  

The move comes after five inmates were killed in 10 days of violence in a prison system long dogged by understaffing. Prisoner advocates in the United States are calling for a federal investigation into the state of Mississippi’s beleaguered prison system for possible civil rights violations, saying a recent spate of violence highlights deliberate violations of inmates’ constitutional right to …

Deaths Federal Letter System 10 Days Recent Violence Five Deaths