- An outbreak of violence at three Mississippi prison facilities has left 5 inmates dead in the past week. Two more are missing.
- The violence, which began Dec. 29, was reportedly provoked by gangs and has prompted a statewide lockdown of prisons, according to the state Department of Corrections.
- As officials are working to quell the violence, critics have noted the state's troubled history of inhumane prison conditions, including a lawsuit citing filthy, unsafe conditions and lack of medical care.
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Five inmates have died this week and two more are missing after an outbreak of violence this week at several Mississippi correctional facilities.
The missing inmates, both convicted of aggravated assault, were reported in the early hours of January 4 during an emergency count at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, according to the Clarion Ledger, which first broke the news of the violence. One of the men has since been recaptured, but other remains at large, the Ledger reported early on January 5.
Their escape came on the heels of a week of inmate deaths and injuries at three different prisons beginning with the death of an inmate at South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville, according to the Ledger. This was followed by a death at Chickasaw County Regional Correctional Facility in Houston, and a total of three deaths at Parchman, the Ledger reported. The media outlet has also noted numerous allegations of injuries reported by family members of the incarcerated, although the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) had not yet responded to a request for comment.
An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the violence, according to a press release from the state department of corrections, but the government says that it has confirmed much of the turmoil is related to gang activity. More detailed information has been withheld due to security concerns.
"There is a lot of misinformation fanning the flames of fear in the community at large, especially on social media," Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall said in a statement. "Cellphones are contraband and have been instrumental in escalating the violence."
Mississippi's prison system has a troubled history reflected in prior lawsuits and investigations
The current spate of violence follows a fraught history for Mississippi's correctional justice system. The Washington Post reported that on Dec. 31, in the midst of the violence, a federal judge ruled that constitutional violations had been resolved at another prison in the state, East Mississippi Correctional Facility. A privately-run prison, that facility had been charged with denying medical and mental health care to inmates, as well as subjecting them to filthy and inhumane conditions, according to a 2013 lawsuit by the ACLU and other civil rights groups.
Since then, ProPublica and the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting have teamed up to report on the prison system across the state, which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation.
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