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The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges
Loaded on Jan. 1, 2024
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2024, page 55
A Mississippi Today article published on July 24, 2023, examined why the Magnolia State jails the mentally ill without charges for longer than any other state. As in every other state, Mississippians picked up by police who believe they require mental health services must go through civil commitment, which courts ...
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More from this issue:
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare, by J.D. Schmidt
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- $7.75 Million Paid by San Diego County After Jail Detainee Severely Injured in Fall from Top Bunk
- Alabama DOC Proves Truly “Heartless”
- Misadventures in Mail Censorship, by Robert Schaeffer
- Private Prisons Hold Almost 100,000 Prisoners, 8% of Total U.S. Prison Population
- Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction
- Fifth BOP Employee Sentenced in California “Rape Club,” Another Lawsuit Filed
- Another Report Verifies That Prison Deaths Soared During COVID-19 Pandemic
- Record-Setting $7 Million Settlement Caps LaSalle’s Legacy at Texarkana Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- 153 Killed in Custody in Salvadorian Gang Crackdown
- Former L.A. County Jail Detainees Denied Promised Sentence Credits
- Washington Agencies Sanctioned for Discovery Violations Reach $3.1 Million Settlement with Disabled Woman Allegedly Abused at State Sanctioned Home
- Former Florida Guard Gets Five Years for Fatal Assault on Mentally Ill Prisoner
- N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000
- Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi
- “Brushed It Under the Rug”: Investigation Refutes Florida Sheriff’s Story About Jail Detainee’s Death
- Corizon Health Bankruptcy Delayed by Revelation of Attorney’s Affair With Mediator
- Virginia Leads the Nation in K-9 Attacks on Prisoners
- Nearly $75 Million Class-Action Settlement Reached For Delayed Releases from N.Y.C. Jails
- Officials of Pennsylvania Guards Union Charged with Theft
- $10,000 Verdict for Fired Guard’s Failure to Protect Louisiana Prisoner From Stabbing, by David Reutter
- $9,000 Settlement for Florida Prisoner’s Retaliation and Excessive Force Claims Against Guards, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin Supreme Court: Jail Time Must Be Credited When Charge Causing Jailing Read in At Sentencing, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Prisoner Uses COVID-19 Stimulus Check to Overturn Conviction
- The Good That Prisoner Rights Lawyers Do
- New Head of “Constitutional Sheriffs” Calls MLK a “Thug”
- Eleventh Circuit Addresses First Amendment, Due Process Interests in Georgia Prisoner Emails
- Second Circuit Strips Qualified Immunity from Connecticut Officials Who Ignored Prisoner’s Scalp Lesions, by David Reutter
- Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services
- West Virginia Pretrial Detainee’s Lawsuit for Sexual Abuse Survives Dismissal Stage, by David Reutter
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- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Illinois Prisoner’s Claim Against Kitchen Supervisor for Scalding From Spilled Hot Water
- George Floyd’s Killer Stabbed 22 Times in Federal Prison in Arizona
- Former New Mexico Guard Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Prisoner, Suit Filed
- Ed Mead: Rest in Power, by Paul Wright
- Multiple Staffers Arrested at Georgia’s Clayton County Jail
- The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges
- Second Circuit Revives N.Y. Prisoner’s Suit Over Sing Sing Fire, 11 Other Prisoners Split $220,000 Settlement
- Maine Ends Prison Gerrymandering
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- Nevada Prisoner Wins Injunction Requiring DOC to Provide Exercise Despite Guard Shortage
- Seventh Circuit Slams Illinois Civil Commitment Program but Reverses Injunction
- Florida Prisoners Not Required to File Rulemaking Petition to Satisfy PLRA Exhaustion Requirement, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
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- $550,000 Settlement After Juvenile’s Suicide at Charlotte Jail, July 15, 2025. Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Failure to Protect (Juveniles).
- Washington’s Continuing Competency Crisis Strains Jails, June 1, 2025. Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Conditions of Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Retired California Prison Guard Killed in Colorado Jail, June 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Watchdogs Fault Nebraska Prisons for Suicide Response, Overpaid Staff, June 1, 2025. Suicides, Guards/Staff, Staff Training.
- $500,000 for Colorado Detainee Dropped On His Face by Jailers, June 1, 2025. Jail Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Ninth Circuit Revives Complaint Over Sloppy Cell Checks Before Psychotic Detainee’s Death at L.A. Jail, June 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.
- Kansas Pays $150,000 for Prisoner Killed by Cellmate, Centurion Settlement Confidential, June 1, 2025. Classification, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Three New York Guards Plead Guilty to Beating Black Prisoner in “George Floyd Challenge”, June 1, 2025. Guard Misconduct, Threats by Staff, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death).
- Rural Virginia Jury Refuses to Hold Guards Liable for State Prisoner’s Death, June 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Guard Brutality/Beatings, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).