Mississippi Edition - 5/16/2022 - Sen. Juan Barnett on DOJ's Parchman Report

MPB News

• Published on May 16, 2022 • Comments

The front gate of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., is shown Nov. 17, 2021. The U.S. Justice Department says it has found "severe, systemic" problems at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File

The threat of a federal lawsuit hangs over Mississippi's state penitentiary. That's in the wake of a report from the Department of Justice that details, quote, "severe, systemic" problems that are "exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision" at Parchman Prison.

The report reflects findings from the DOJ's two-year investigation of the prison. The probe started after an outburst of violence in late 2019 and early 2020.