Justice Department finds “severe, systemic” problems in Mississippi prison

Jackson, Mississippi – Mississippi jail violates inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from violence, failing to meet their mental health needs, failing to take appropriate measures to prevent suicide, and relying too much on prolonged isolation , the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The department released the findings of its two-year investigation into the state’s oldest prison. Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. The investigation began after an outbreak of violence in late 2019 and early 2020.

“Parchman’s problems are serious, systemic and exacerbated by serious staffing and oversight deficiencies,” the department said in its report.

He said the Mississippi Corrections Department “has been notified of these deficiencies for years and has not taken reasonable steps to address the violations, in part because of non-functional liability or quality assurance measures.”

“Years of deliberate indifference to the MDOC have led to serious harm and a substantial risk of serious harm to people confined to Parchman,” the department said.

Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division, said there have been 10 homicides and 12 suicides among Parchman inmates since 2019.

The department said it found “gross staff shortages” and “uncontrolled gang activity.” He also found that insufficient security gave inmates “free access to smuggling.”

Clarke said Mississippi officials cooperated with the investigation and that the Justice Department and the state will work on measures to resolve the issues.

“This is the first time the Justice Department has concluded that the use of solitary confinement in a prison violates the constitutional rights of people without serious mental illness,” Clarke said in a conference call announcing the findings.

More than 150 inmates presented at federal demand in 2020 for his treatment of Parchman, saying he was denied proper medical and mental health care, fed contaminated food, and retaliated against talking to his lawyers.

The Justice Department has been investigating prison conditions in recent years in other states, including Alabama, Texas, South Carolina and Georgia.

The department continues to investigate conditions in three other Mississippi prisons: the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Mississippi Central Correctional Facility, and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.

Violence has long been a problem in Mississippi prisons, where many guard jobs are unoccupied. State Department of Corrections officials have said for years that it is difficult to find people to work as guards because of low wages, long hours, and dangerous conditions. Salary has risen over the past two years.