JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Officials with the Justice Department announced their findings that conditions of confinement at three Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) facilities violate the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The Department’s 60-page report details its findings from a thorough investigation of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. According to DOJ officials, the three prisons currently house about 7,200 people.

The report stated that MDOC routinely violates the constitutional rights of people incarcerated at the three facilities by failing to protect them from widespread physical violence. The report also states Mississippi does not adequately supervise the incarcerated population, control the flow of contraband, adequately investigate incidents of serious harm, or provide adequate living conditions.

According to DOJ officials, these problems are exacerbated by chronic understaffing that has allowed gangs to exert improper influence inside the prisons.

The report also concludes that Mississippi unconstitutionally subjects persons at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility to prolonged restrictive housing under harsh conditions that places them at substantial risk of serious physical and psychological harm.

“Every state is constitutionally obligated to protect the people it incarcerates from known, pervasive and deliberately unchecked violence, and to house people in conditions that do not pose a serious risk of physical and psychological harm,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Today’s announcement follows the DOJ’s April 2022 report finding that conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman) violated the constitutional rights of persons incarcerated there by subjecting them to violence, failing to provide adequate care for serious mental health needs, or adequate suicide prevention measures and using prolonged restrictive housing in a manner that poses a risk of serious harm.

The Justice Department launched its investigation of Parchman, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in February 2020, under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). As required by CRIPA, officials said the department provided the State of Mississippi with written notice of the supporting facts for its conclusions and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address the alleged violations.

The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi conducted the investigation.

Officials with MDOC released a statement that said in part, “Over the past four years, MDOC has worked tirelessly to increase staff through additional compensation, the development of career ladders, streamlining the hiring process, job fairs, and implementing special duty pay. We’re grateful for the often thankless work of the men and women of MDOC, and we look forward to continuing our efforts to recruit additional staff. While we disagree with the findings, we will work with the DOJ to identify possible resolutions to enhance inmate safety and continue ongoing efforts to improve operations at MDOC.”

Read the full report below: