Events led to federal investigation

In 2020, the quantity of people that died in custody with the Mississippi Division of Corrections reached triple digits in a jail system that already had one of many nation’s highest prisoner mortality charges.

MDOC reported a file variety of deaths in 2020, with 102 inmates dying in state custody, in keeping with Clarion Ledger data. Almost half of them died on the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

The yr started with an eruption of riots in prisons throughout the state, which left a number of inmates lifeless and dozens injured. The COVID-19 pandemic swept by means of the susceptible inhabitants behind bars. Lack of entry to satisfactory medical and psychological well being care and inhumane jail circumstances have been contributing elements as effectively, advocates stated.

‘A recipe for catastrophe’:Democratic lawmakers go to Parchman after lethal violence

‘Deliberate indifference’:Officers knew of issues at Mississippi’s Parchman jail

The riots and deaths prompted the U.S. Division of Justice to launch a civil rights investigation at 4 Mississippi prisons, together with Parchman. The report of the findings, launched Wednesday, discovered quite a few violations of inmates’ rights beneath the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments. 

State officers, together with Gov. Tate Reeves, haven’t responded to requests for touch upon the Division of Justice’s findings.

The deaths additionally led Parchman inmates to sue corrections officers, alleging jail circumstances quantity to merciless and strange punishment with assist from hip-hop stars Jay-Z and Yo Gotti’s philanthropic group, Group Roc.

Onerous time, brutal circumstances:A historical past of Parchman jail

Here’s a timeline of occasions that led as much as the Division of Justice’s resolution to analyze:

Dec. 29-Jan. 3, 2019: 5 inmates have been killed and dozens injured inside per week at prisons throughout the state, however primarily at Parchman. Most deaths occurred due to what MDOC referred to as gang-related violence. One other three inmates have been discovered hanging of their cells. MDOC put all prisons on lockdown. A fireplace was set at a unit in Parchman and two inmates escaped earlier than being recaptured. Six weeks later, one of many recaptured inmates died of obvious pure causes.

Dec. 31, 2019: Pelicia Corridor introduced her resignation as MDOC commissioner, efficient Jan. 14, 2020. Corridor stated she was leaving for a job within the personal sector. Her departure coincided with the transition of energy from Gov. Phil Bryant to then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves. On the identical day, Marshall Fisher stated he was stepping down as head of Division of Public Security.

Mississippi jail disaster:Federal officers say state violates Parchman inmates’ rights

Jan. 9, 2020: As much as 375 MDOC inmates have been moved from Parchman to a personal jail in close by Tallahatchie County in an effort to forestall additional violence.

Jan. 14, 2020: Attorneys working with hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Yo Gotti sued corrections officers on behalf of Parchman inmates. The lawsuit alleges the circumstances at Parchman quantity to merciless and strange punishment. The case continues to be energetic in federal courtroom.

Jan. 16, 2020: Gov. Tate Reeves introduced the appointment of former Home Corrections Committee Chairman Tommy Taylor as interim MDOC commissioner till a everlasting alternative is discovered.

Jan. 27, 2020: Reeves introduced throughout his first State of the State tackle that he ordered the infamous Unit 29 closed at Parchman, including the issues he noticed throughout a current tour of the jail have been “infuriating.”

Jan. 22-23, 2020: Gov. Tate Reeves visited Parchman and Walnut Grove Correctional Facility.

Training, coaching:Mississippi’s workforce is getting a lift from an surprising space: its jail system

Jan. 25, 2020: A number of hundred individuals gathered exterior the Mississippi Capitol to protest a state jail system they are saying is failing to cease individuals from killing one another and themselves.

Feb. 5, 2020: The U.S. Division of Justice introduced the launch of a civil rights investigation into circumstances at 4 prisons — Parchman, South Mississippi Correctional Establishment, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. Officers launched findings of the report for Parchman on Wednesday. The opposite three prisons stay beneath investigation.

Might 21, 2020: Burl Cain, a former warden at Louisiana’s infamous Angola jail, was appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves to take over the Mississippi Division of Corrections. He started a recruiting marketing campaign to fill tons of of vacant positions and has since applied a number of applications to enhance the lives of incarcerated people. 

Mississippi’s jail system has a protracted and troubled historical past starting in 1840, together with a civil rights lawsuit that took 40 years to resolve. The accusations cowl the gamut with every little thing from insufficient and inhumane residing circumstances, overcrowding, pressured labor beneath harsh circumstances, racial segregation, poor medical care and use of corporal punishment.

Click on right here to learn extra in regards to the general historical past of circumstances at Mississippi’s prisons.

Do you’ve a narrative to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Comply with her on Twitter @licibev or Fb at fb.com/licibeveridge.