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DOJ Declares Conditions at Three More Mississippi Prisons Unconstitutional

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement

DOJ Declares Conditions at Three More Mississippi Prisons Unconstitutional by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On February 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a report finding that conditions at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), South Mississippi Correctional Institution (SMCI) and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) violate …

Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling

Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Marijuana Laws/Issues

Mississippi Prison Warden Suspended After Security Chief Caught Smuggling by Warden Terrance Watt was placed on administrative leave by the Mississippi Department of Corrections after his Chief of Security at Winston-Choctaw Regional Correctional Facility was picked up on smuggling charges on July 11, 2024. Nikita Carter, 35, was arrested and …

Harris County Shipping Detainees from Overcrowded Jail to Mississippi CoreCivic Prison

Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Overcrowding

Harris County Shipping Detainees from Overcrowded Jail to Mississippi CoreCivic Prison by On December 1, 2023, Harris County, Texas, began sending up to 360 detainees from the county’s jails to a prison in Mississippi, under a contract with its private operator, CoreCivic. The County Commissioners Court approved the $11.3 million …

MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons

Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024

Filed under: Management and Training Corporation, Contractor Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Staffing, Guards/Staff

MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons by Utah-based Management & Training Corporation (MTC) announced on September 18, 2023, that it returned $5.125 million to the Mississippi Department of Corrections (DOC), after a state investigation found the private prison operator understaffed lockups operated for DOC. …

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: MHM Inc., Corizon, Centurion, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Retaliation, Systemic Medical Neglect, Cancer, Private Contractors, Frivolous Litigation, Disclosure of Records, Declaratory Judgment, Public Records, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, PLN Litigation, Censorship, Articles About PLN, Public Records Act, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), HRDC Litigation

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Treat No Evil: Centurion and the Curse of For-Profit Prison Healthcare by J.D. Schmidt by J.D. Schmidt On November 14, 2022, the Florida arm of Centurion Health, one of the nation’s largest private prison and jail healthcare companies, filed a lawsuit in Putnam County …

The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Suicides, Civil Commitment, Suicide/Assisted Suicide, Inadequate Health Care Facilities

The “Lunacy Zone:” How Mississippi Jails 700 Mentally Ill People a Year Without Charges by 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 …

Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, Voting Rights, Felon Disenfranchisement Statute

Hurdles to Voting for Ex-Felons Rise in Tennessee and Virginia, Fall in Mississippi by On July 21, 2023, Tennessee announced a tough new rule for ex-felons seeking to exercise their voting rights. State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said that anyone with a felony conviction in another state whose voting …

37 Mississippi Prison Gang Members, Accomplices Convicted in Massive Conspiracy

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: Prison Gangs, Conspiracy

37 Mississippi Prison Gang Members, Accomplices Convicted in Massive Conspiracy by On October 19, 2023, the last of a group of 37 Mississippi prison gang members and their accomplices pleaded guilty in federal court to selling drugs and committing violent crimes in state lockups. From its founding in Chicago in …

News in Brief

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …

News in Brief

Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Three jail guards in the Yellowhammer State were hit with drug smuggling charges in August 2023 and another the month after. WAFF in Huntsville reported that Morgan County Jail guard Bobby Simmons, 19, was arrested on August 3, 2023, when he was charged with promoting …

No Hearing Required for Emergency Dose of Antipsychotic Medication for Mississippi Prisoner

Article • November 15, 2023 • from PLN November, 2023

Filed under: Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Involuntary Treatment/Drugging

No Hearing Required for Emergency Dose of Antipsychotic Medication for Mississippi Prisoner by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On May 4, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a Mississippi prisoner’s claim that his due process rights were violated when a doctor dosed …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 12, 2023, an Alabama jail guard was caught – in uniform – stealing Pokemon cards from a Walmart. WBMA in Birmingham reported that Josh Hardy then fled store security on foot before cops caught him in a nearby restaurant. Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew …

Former BOP Guard Gets Light Sentence for COVID-19 Fraud

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, COVID-19, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Fraud and Deceit

Former BOP Guard Gets Light Sentence for COVID-19 Fraud by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney On February 17, 2023, a former guard at the Federal Correctional Complex in Yazoo City, Mississippi, got a light sentence for defrauding the U.S. of $12,586 in loans she swindled from the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection …

Citing Improvements at Mississippi State Prison at Parchman, Rappers Drop Suit

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: Conditions of Confinement, Media, Tapes/Music

Citing Improvements at Mississippi State Prison at Parchman, Rappers Drop Suit by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In January 2023, rappers Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims agreed to dismiss the lawsuit they had brought on behalf of 227 prisoners challenging conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. …

News in Brief

Article • September 15, 2023 • from PLN September, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: According to WSFA in Montgomery, a guard at the Montgomery County Detention Center was charged on July 18, 2023, with conspiracy to provide contraband to a prisoner as well as bribing a public official. Timothy Bernard Summerlin, 33, had worked at the lockup for roughly …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2023 • from PLN August, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard was arrested on June 10, 2023, for allegedly smuggling drugs, including meth, to a prisoner at Kilby Correctional Facility, 1819 News reported. Charlie Townsend, 28, resigned from his position upon his arrest by the Law Enforcement Services Division. …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2023 • from PLN July, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A guard with the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was indicted on April 27, 2023, on charges he sexually abused two prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Aliceville, according to a report by the Birmingham News. Robert D. Smith allegedly had sexual intercourse …

News in Brief

Article • June 15, 2023 • from PLN June, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: A private prison guard in Arizona was picked up on drug charges in California on April 18, 2023, as he made his way back from Mexico with his wife and kids – along with almost 53 pounds of meth and heroin stashed in the gas …

Former Mississippi Sheriff Indicted for Bribery After Allegedly Allowing Detainee Rape at County Jail

Article • June 15, 2023 • from PLN June, 2023

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Bribery/Extortion/Theft

Former Mississippi Sheriff Indicted for Bribery After Allegedly Allowing Detainee Rape at County Jail by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi Three years after retiring, and 16 years after the first rape allegations surfaced at Mississippi’s Noxubee County Jail (NCJ), former Sheriff Terry Grassaree has been indicted on federal charges. On …

Four Escape Troubled Mississippi Jail After Fifth Circuit Postpones Federal Receivership

Article • June 15, 2023 • from PLN June, 2023

Filed under: Escapes

Four Escape Troubled Mississippi Jail After Fifth Circuit Postpones Federal Receivership by Keith Sanders by Keith Sanders Two of four detainees have been recaptured after escaping from jail in Mississippi’s Hinds County on April 29, 2023. The other two are dead. Meanwhile control of the Raymond Detention Center (RDC) remains …