Justice Department Said Alabama Prisons are so bad they violate protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Prisons in Mississippi may be even worse.

Mississippi has saved a lot of money on its prisons over the past several years. But as the experiences of next-door neighbor Alabama show, rampant violence and understaffing can eventually draw scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, with potentially costly consequences.

Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellAugust 20, 2019Alabama Prisons, mississippi prisons, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi center for investigative reporting, FAMM, Prison

Gang-control allegations at Wilkinson prison mirrored in East Mississippi lawsuit

A November audit that concluded officials at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility had ceded control to gang leaders mirrors litigation against another privately run Mississippi prison where gangs allegedly were controlling the prison’s housing units and inmates were doing their own cell counts.

Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellJuly 15, 2019Prison gangs, Private prisons, Wilkinson, East Mississippi Correctional Facility, EMCF, prison deaths, prison weapons, Southern Poverty Law Center, Correctional Officers, overcrowding in prisons, prison staffing, prison violence, mississippi center for investigative reporting

Wilkinson County prison in Mississippi put gangs in charge

It was a prison brimming with violence, awash in weapons -- and severely short on guards to patrol its cell blocks.