Justice Department will investigate inmate deaths and living conditions in Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Corrections is under investigation by the Justice Department after the recent and suspicious deaths of several inmates.
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The Mississippi Department of Corrections is under investigation by the Justice Department after the recent and suspicious deaths of several inmates.
Justice’s Civil Rights Division is focusing its investigation on the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, CNN is reporting.
READ MORE: Yo Gotti Speaks out Against the Inhumane Treatment in Mississippi Prisons
Since last month, nine inmates have died at Parchman as a result of violence or suicide. Prison officials have relocated 375 violent prisoners from Parchman and are trying to relocate another 625 more.
The federal investigation follows a state investigation that found dangerous and inhumane living conditions at the jails, including overflowing raw sewage on their cell floors, no running water, and violent gang activity.
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“The investigation will focus on whether the Mississippi Department of Corrections adequately protects prisoners from physical harm at the hands of other prisoners at the four prisons, as well as whether there is adequate suicide prevention, including adequate mental health care and appropriate use of isolation, at Parchman,” the Justice Department said in a statement, according to CNN.
The violence has prompted rappers Jay-Z and Yo Gotti to get their legal teams involved in helping the prisoners sue the state.
Hov’s team sent a letter to Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall on Jan. 9 in which he accused Mississippi of “utter disregard for the people it has incarcerated” and promised to pursue “all potential avenues to obtain relief” if state officials don’t swiftly move to correct the situation.
“These inhumane conditions are unconstitutional,” the letter adds. “The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment and is violated when prison officials fail to protect against prison-related violence and when prison conditions fail to meet basic human needs.”
Hov and Yo Gotti made good on that promise. They helped more than two dozen inmates file a lawsuit asking a court for an emergency protective order to allow an independent agency to run the daily operations of the prison.
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