— A Mississippi prison violated inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from violence, meet their mental health needs or take adequate steps for suicide prevention, and by relying too much on prolonged solitary confinement, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday. It said the Mississippi Department of Corrections “has been on notice of these deficiencies for years and failed …
— 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 …
— Mississippi will take steps to close part of a state prison that has been rocked by deadly violence and beset by longstanding problems such as broken toilets and moldy showers, Gov. In his speech at the state Capitol, Reeves said he has told the Mississippi Department of Corrections “to begin the necessary work to start closing Parchman’s most notorious …
— 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 …