‘The Gangs Run the Prison’: Witness Disputes Official Parchman Death Account

A gang helmsman at Unit 30B of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., shouted a threatening message about some inmates he had singled out from that unit in January 2020.

News, Prison, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellDecember 10, 2022Parchman, inmate murder, prisoner death, prison gangs, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Unit 30B, Burl Cain, DOJ investigation, constitutional rights violation, prison conditions, murder witness, dope, drugs

Justice Department hammers Mississippi State Penitentiary for violent, inhumane conditions

Justice Department officials said Wednesday that conditions at the State Penitentiary at Parchman violate the Constitution.

News, Mississippi News, Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellApril 20, 2022Justice department, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman, MCIR, Propublica, inhumane conditions, violence, gang control, prisoners

The Justice Department drops the hammer on Alabama’s prison system. Could Mississippi be next?

A year after deadly riots, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division continues to investigate Mississippi prisons.

Mississippi News, Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellJanuary 5, 2021prison, prison reform, contraband, prison gangs, MDOC, prison inspection, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Mississippi department of health, Mississippi prison system, Denorris Howell

State law: No experience required for Miss. prisons chief

Mississippi’s new corrections commissioner will inherit the state’s worst prison crisis in half a century history, but, thanks to state law, no corrections experience is required.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellMarch 2, 2020Mississippi Center for Investigative Reportingmississippi prisons, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Mississippi Governor, Tate Reeves, Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, George Flaggs Jr., Corrections commissioner

Justice Department launches probe into deadly conditions at four Mississippi prisons

A month after deadly riots, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division had announced it is launching an investigation into four Mississippi prisons.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellFebruary 5, 2020Mississippi Center for Investigative Reportingmississippi prisons, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Prison gangs, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Mississippi Governor, Tate Reeves, Prison Riot

Anatomy of a Disaster

State leaders and lawmakers oversaw the gutting of the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ budget by $215 million over the past six years.

And now they must oversee the future of funding Mississippi’s prisons, one of which is imploding.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellFebruary 3, 2020Mississippi Center for Investigative Reportingmississippi prisons, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Prison gangs, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Mississippi Governor, Tate Reeves, Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, Prison Riot

Justice Department investigating Mississippi prisons

Confronted by horrific conditions and in the wake of recent uprisings inside Mississippi’s prisons that have left five dead, the Justice Department, in coordination with state authorities, has launched criminal and civil investigations with a look at possible charges, the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting has learned.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellJanuary 17, 2020Mississippi Center for Investigative Reportingmississippi prisons, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Mississippi department of health, Prison gangs, Mississippi State Penitentiary

Lawmakers refused to increase an infamous prison's funding. Then, chaos erupted.

One prisoner strangled another to death while other inmates cheered the killing. Two convicts escaped a dilapidated building by walking out an open door. Maximum-security detainees freely roamed hallways, beating and threatening others.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellJanuary 8, 2020prison violence, Locked Down, mississippi prisons, SMCI, Prison gangs, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Convicts escaped, Prison murder