Mocobizscene – According to a scathing report from the Department of Justice, three Mississippi prisons housing approximately 7,200 individuals are under the control of gangs and plagued by rampant violence. The report further states that these conditions are in direct violation of the constitutional rights of the incarcerated individuals at these facilities.
A recent report revealed that the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility have long been plagued by violence, gang influence, and contraband trafficking. The investigation concluded that the Mississippi Department of Corrections failed to safeguard inmates from physical harm and lacked sufficient supervision over incarcerated individuals. Shockingly, instead of addressing these issues, corrections authorities resorted to increased use of solitary confinement, which only exacerbated the harm inflicted upon inmates. This disturbing information was unveiled in a report published on Wednesday.
According to a statement by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, our four-year investigation has revealed chronic and systemic deficiencies that lead to violent and unsafe environments for incarcerated individuals at these three Mississippi facilities.
I contacted the Mississippi Department of Corrections for comment, as CBS News required.
The prisons suffer from a severe lack of staff, leading to a situation where gangs have taken control of much of prison life. This has resulted in a widespread presence of contraband and violence, including sexual violence. According to the Chief CID investigator of Central Mississippi, it is believed that between 20% and 40% of the population in this prison have some form of gang affiliation.
The report highlighted that the Mississippi Department of Corrections is aware of the extensive violence occurring within their facilities. However, it fails to take adequate measures to prevent the well-known and widespread violence at Central Mississippi, South Mississippi, and Wilkinson.
Incidents of assault and violence are alarmingly common at various facilities, as evident from the Central Mississippi facility’s report of an assault occurring every other day for almost two years. Similarly, the South Mississippi facility witnessed nearly 100 reported assaults or fights, out of which approximately 40 necessitated outside hospitalization during the period between June 2020 and June 2022, according to the report. The situation is no better at Wilkinson prison, where inmates are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day as a result of the persistent violence.
According to staff members at Central Mississippi, gangs within the facility are referred to as a “government” and have full control over the prison dormitories.
The prison system is also facing a significant problem of smuggled illegal items, including drugs and cell phones. An account from a supervisor at Wilkinson revealed shocking statistics for just one month in 2022, where they seized “28 grams of crystal meth, 8-9 ounces of marijuana, and 10 cell phones.”
In 2020, the Department of Justice initiated an investigation into four prisons in Mississippi following reports regarding the poor conditions of the correctional facilities in the state. The findings on the conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman, were made public in April 2022.
The Department of Justice has announced that now that the investigations into the prisons have been completed, their next objective is to collaborate with Mississippi in order to address the constitutional violations that have been identified and bring about necessary changes.
