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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 …
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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
- Hear Us Now? Hearing Impaired Tennessee Prisoners Secure Injunction
- Private Prisons Hold Almost 100,000 Prisoners, 8% of Total U.S. Prison Population
- 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
- Washington Agencies Sanctioned for Discovery Violations Reach $3.1 Million Settlement with Disabled Woman Allegedly Abused at State Sanctioned Home
- Former L.A. County Jail Detainees Denied Promised Sentence Credits
- N.H.’s First Black Sheriff Charged With Embezzling $19,000
- Former Florida Guard Gets Five Years for Fatal Assault on Mentally Ill Prisoner
- 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
- The Good That Prisoner Rights Lawyers Do
- Oklahoma Prisoner Uses COVID-19 Stimulus Check to Overturn Conviction
- 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
- Eighth Circuit Says Arkansas Prisoner’s Medical Incapacity May Excuse PLRA Exhaustion Failure
- Deaths While Incarcerated Up 18% in Louisiana
- Despite “Ban the Box” Laws, Most Prisoners Still Unemployed a Year After Release
- 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
- Fifth Circuit Revives Suit Against Texas Jailers Who Tasered Detainee Suffering Epileptic Seizure, by Douglas Ankney
- West Virginia High Court Decides Medical Practice Liability Act Not Applicable to Prison System, by David Reutter
- 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:
- Warden Out, Nineteen Guards Administratively Charged in Maryland Prisoner’s Death, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Protect (Staff).
- $4.5 Million Paid by Cook County for Detainee Suicide in Chicago Jail, Aug. 1, 2026. Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, Administrative Detention/Segregation, Deliberate Indifference.
- Death of Seattle Detainee—Jailed Despite Not Being “Grounded in Reality”—Costs King County $3.5 Million Settlement, Aug. 1, 2026. Restraints, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Monell Liability.
- Oregon Agrees to $2.3 Million Settlement After Guards Toss Mentally Ill Prisoner in Solitary, Taunt Him Until He Kills Himself, Aug. 1, 2026. Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Deliberate Indifference.
- $1.2 Million for Elderly Detainee Shoved Out the Door of Sacramento Jail by Guard, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Trump is Making Federal Prisons More Dangerous for Transgender Prisoners, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Rape Elimination Act, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Transgender Medical Procedures, Discrimination (Transgender), Failure to Protect (Transgender).
- New York Closes Rikers Infirmary as Broader Jail Shutdown Plan Stalls, Aug. 1, 2026. Prison Reform, Overcrowding, Jail Specific, Inadequate Health Care Facilities, Reduction of Prison Population.
- Tulsa Jail Shutting Down After Investigative Reporting on Detainee Deaths, Aug. 1, 2026. Contractor Misconduct, Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness).
- Three Women Died at a Michigan Prison in Less than a Month, July 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Failure to Treat, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Deliberate Indifference.
- Video Shows Guards Watched as Oklahoma Detainee Died in Cell, July 1, 2026. Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death).

