Statement on U.S. Department of Justice Announcement of Investigation of Mississippi Prisons
Statement of Lisa Graybill, deputy legal director, Southern Poverty Law Center
JACKSON, Mississippi 鈥� 鈥淢ississippi鈥檚 prisons have a brutal history rooted in slavery and convict leasing, and it is time for the federal government to step in and do what the Mississippi Department of Corrections has failed to:聽end the violence and ensure humane living conditions. 聽Dozens have died and hundred of others live in squalid conditions with standing sewage in freezing temperatures as a result of 聽the Mississippi's聽neglect. 聽Mississippi鈥檚 prisons are overcrowded, understaffed, and aren鈥檛 safe for anyone.聽
Mississippi Department of Corrections needs to address these problems as quickly as possible.聽 The legislature needs to look closely at how to safely reduce its prison population and end its addiction to mass incarceration.鈥澛� 聽
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Last month, Mississippi civil justice advocates and Rep. Bennie Thompson sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for聽the agency to begin an immediate investigation into the Mississippi Department of Corrections鈥� (MDOC) practice of incarcerating more people than it employs guards to keep people safe.聽 The cites the outbreak of violence, the deaths of five men in ten days, escapes, and dozens of injuries as the evidence that MDOC has overincarcerated and understaffed its prison system for years.
