Justice Dept. Inquiry Finds ‘Systemic Failures’ at Mississippi Prison

By Glenn Thrush and Katie Benner, New York Times

A report singled out solitary confinement and enforced segregation as particularly harmful practices that contributed to the poor mental and physical health of prisoners.

WASHINGTON — Officials at Mississippi’s largest prison routinely violated the rights of prisoners by failing to provide mental health treatment, suicide counseling and protection from violence, among its “systemic failures” that led to widespread death and despair, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

In a 59-page report about a two-year investigation, the department’s civil rights division offered a scathing assessment of conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, better known as Parchman, singling out the use of solitary confinement and enforced segregation of prisoners as particularly harmful practices that contributed to the poor mental and physical health of prisoners.

 

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