For much of the time Susie Balfour was incarcerated at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, she and many others worked on the facility's cleaning crews.
Up to three times per day, that work involved mixing the raw form of numerous cleaning chemicals, many of which are known to be carcinogenic through either long or repeat exposure.
Michael McEwen
Mississippi House of Representatives
The 63 year old spent more than half of her life in the state's correctional system -- most of it at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.
In 2011, after noticing abnormal lumps on her breasts and experiencing pain, she underwent a mammogram at the University of Mississippi Medical Center that found a mass in her right breast. Doctors at the time recommended she return for yearly follow-ups, and in 2016 updated their recommendation to an appointment every six months.
But it wasn't until 2021, within days of her release, that a biopsy was conducted and Balfour was notified she had stage four cancer.
Balfour is now considered to be terminally ill.
Pauline Rogers, a friend of Balfour’s and the executive director of the RECH Foundation, a Jackson-based prisoner re-entry group, says Balfour’s situation motivated her to try and effect change before others suffer her same fate.
“She was given, in essence, a death sentence. And she decided that she would do something about it,” Rogers told MPB News.
“She was somebody I served time with, and prior to her getting out, she used to always say, 'You go get the home, and that's where I'm going to come when I get out'. And that happened in 2021 -- she got out, I picked her up from the gate, and she stayed in the home where I took her to her first appointment with the doctor. And then she was getting all these horrific diagnoses.”
House Bill 658, authored by state representative Justis Gibbs (D-Jackson), uses Balfour's story as the blueprint for compelling the state's Department of Corrections to increase protections for such workers.
If passed by the legislature, the law would require protective equipment when working with the raw state of a number of chemicals used for cleaning, including among them acids, alkalies, surfactants and enzymes.
Pauline Rogers says the proposed change is long-awaited.
“This deal for us is not just about protective gear; it is about acknowledging that incarcerated individuals are human beings, and it's about preventing unnecessary suffering and ensuring that those that serve in time are not subjected to preventable health hazards,” said Rogers.
”This was preventable -- had they had the right gear, had they not been mixing certain chemicals, they would have never had the exposure to the dangerous chemicals that can lead to long term health consequences like Susie. It's about acknowledging humanity.”
As of Jan. 31, the bill was passed by the House's corrections committee and heads to the full House for a vote. Part of Balfour's federal lawsuit estimates as many as 15 other incarcerated people at the Central Mississippi Correctional facility have also developed cancer as a result of similar chemical exposure.