Justice Department Finds Conditions at State Prison Unconstitutional
Andrea Morales | The New York Times
The Justice Department announced this week the conclusion of a two-year federal investigation into the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman), concluding unconstitutional conditions contributed to violent incidents among incarcerated individuals. According to the Civil Rights Division at Justice, prison officials often violated civil rights by denying incarcerated individuals mental health treatment, suicide intervention, assault prevention, and other systemic failures that contributed to a rise in deaths.
Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Kristen Clarke reported 10 deaths and 12 suicides in the past two years, beginning with a weeks-long prison riot in late 2019. The Justice Department’s 59-page report on the matter concluded that prison officials were ill-equipped to handle violence even with rising concerns about deteriorating living conditions, high tensions, and staff shortages.
“The Constitution guarantees that all people incarcerated in jails and prisons are treated humanely, that reasonable measures are taken to keep them safe, and that they receive necessary mental health care, treatment, and services to address their needs. We are committed to taking action that will ensure the safety of all people held at Parchman and other state prison facilities,” said AAG Clarke, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division.
Federal investigators found prison officials violated incarcerated individuals' civil rights under the Eighth Amendment (VIII) and 14th Amendment (XIV). The Justice Department noted that Parchman had failed to provide adequate mental health and suicide prevention services, let violence fester unchecked, and kept prisoners in solitary confinement for long periods.
“People who are incarcerated still have Constitutional rights. Yet the DOJ report found that the Mississippi Department of Corrections violated those rights at Parchman Prison by failing to protect people from violence and provide them with necessary medical care,” stated Jarvis Dortch, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Mississippi, “Mississippi has the third-highest incarceration rate in the country but provides few resources to ensure that the people held in its prisons are treated humanely. Mississippi leaders must take this as an opportunity to fix our broken and inhumane prisons.”
The report largely attributed prison violence to gang affiliations, and in the absence of adequate oversight from prison officials given the dwindling staff, gangs bridged the gap. In January 2020, three homicides occurred; one incarcerated individual stabbed another 89 times, a second 75 times, and a third died from strangulation, according to the report. Investigators found evidence of over 100 assaults at Parchman, and they concluded that more went unreported over the two-year investigation.
In January 2020, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) joined the ACLU to request the Justice Department investigate the prison after receiving complaints from constituents. In February 2020, the Justice Department began investigating Parchman and three other state-run Mississippi prisons under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (P.L. 96-247). AAG Clarke stated the division investigations into Southern Mississippi Correctional Institute, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility are ongoing.
“Hopefully, the results of this investigation will push the state to do better and fix the unconstitutional conditions,” Rep. Thompson said.