Lawmakers refused to increase an infamous prison's funding. Then, chaos erupted.

One prisoner strangled another to death while other inmates cheered the killing. Two convicts escaped a dilapidated building by walking out an open door. Maximum-security detainees freely roamed hallways, beating and threatening others.

Prison, Prison Reform, Mississippi NewsKatherine MitchellJanuary 8, 2020prison violence, Locked Down, mississippi prisons, SMCI, Prison gangs, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections, mississippi news, Parchman, Mississippi State Penitentiary, Convicts escaped, Prison murder

Inside the prison where inmates set each other on fire and gangs have more power than guards

LEAKESVILLE, Miss. — Jeffery Wilemon clutched his gut, throbbing in pain as he lay on his bed inside the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in April. But there was no way for him to cry out — not unless he wanted another beating.

Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellAugust 19, 2019prison violence, Locked Down, mississippi prisons, SMCI, Prison gangs, prison reform, mississippi department of corrections

Gang-control allegations at Wilkinson prison mirrored in East Mississippi lawsuit

A November audit that concluded officials at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility had ceded control to gang leaders mirrors litigation against another privately run Mississippi prison where gangs allegedly were controlling the prison’s housing units and inmates were doing their own cell counts.

Prison, Prison ReformKatherine MitchellJuly 15, 2019Prison gangs, Private prisons, Wilkinson, East Mississippi Correctional Facility, EMCF, prison deaths, prison weapons, Southern Poverty Law Center, Correctional Officers, overcrowding in prisons, prison staffing, prison violence, mississippi center for investigative reporting

Wilkinson County prison in Mississippi put gangs in charge

It was a prison brimming with violence, awash in weapons -- and severely short on guards to patrol its cell blocks.

Prison Reform, PrisonKatherine MitchellJune 26, 2019Private prisons, Prison weapons, Southern Poverty Law Center, Correctional Officers, Prison Understaffing, Prison gangs, prison violence, overcrowding in prisons, prison staffing, mississippi prisons, wilkinson country prison, mississippi center for investigative reporting