Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks on Findings that Conditions at Three Mississippi Prisons Violate the Constitution

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good morning. I am joined by Clay Joyner, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Todd Gee, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi.

We are here today to announce that the Department of Justice has made findings, following a thorough investigation, regarding conditions at three Mississippi state prisons: the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. Together, these three prisons house about 7,200 people.

Our investigation uncovered chronic, systemic deficiencies that create and perpetuate violent and unsafe environments for people incarcerated at these three facilities. Specifically, we found that these facilities violate the constitutional rights of people incarcerated there in two principal ways:

First, the facilities fail to protect incarcerated people from violence. The inadequate supervision of the incarcerated population, uncontrolled flow of contraband, deficient investigation of incidents resulting in serious harm and failure to fix poor living conditions have led to unchecked violence. Short staffing has allowed gangs to amass control and exert improper influence, directing everything from bed assignments in housing units to traffic in contraband.

Second, Mississippi's use of restrictive housing, more commonly referred to as "segregation," at Wilkinson and Central Mississippi exposes incarcerated people to substantial risk of serious harm. We find that Mississippi's mismanagement of restrictive housing units allows violence and self-harm to proliferate.

The department's findings are detailed in a written report that we are issuing today. To reach our findings, we consulted with two correctional experts, who combined have several decades of experience working inside prisons. Together with our expert consultants, we physically inspected all three facilities. We observed shift changes, housing units and programmatic areas at all three facilities. We conducted dozens of interviews of prison staff and Mississippi Department of Corrections leadership. We reviewed thousands of pages of documents. And we spoke with many incarcerated individuals and their advocates to discuss the experiences of those housed at these facilities.

We have already shared this report with Mississippi officials. As is our long-standing practice in corrections matters, our report not only explains our conclusions and rationale, but also identifies measures needed to bring about critical changes.

This is the second findings report we have issued regarding Mississippi's prisons. In April 2022, we announced the findings of our investigation into the Mississippi State Penitentiary (known as Parchman). Today's report echoes many of the key findings for Parchman. Across all four of the Mississippi prisons we have investigated, we found unacceptable levels of violence, and at the three prisons that rely on restrictive housing, we found that incarcerated people were subject to such confinement for prolonged periods under dangerous conditions. The constitutional violations are systemic and longstanding.

I want to highlight a few key aspects of today's report:

• First, violence is pervasive at all three facilities. During one period, Central Mississippi averaged one assault or fight between incarcerated persons every other day. Violence extends to the restrictive housing units, where people are locked down in their cells 23 or more hours per day.
• We heard gangs described as "a government" within the prisons, and, in many ways, this accurately described their influence. Gangs control multiple aspects of day-to-day life, including access to phones, showers and bed assignments, and they control the contraband trade. We found that gangs exert pressures on staff working in the prisons, with some staff even joining in trafficking of contraband.
• All three facilities are severely understaffed. Vacancy rates range from 30% to 50. Short staffing is longstanding, and it is dangerous. Large housing units with hundreds of individuals go unsupervised for extended periods leaving those individuals vulnerable to attack and an emergency response that is often tardy and ineffective.
• We learned about one incident where poor door security and lack of supervision allowed multiple incarcerated men to enter a female housing unit at Central Mississippi. They stayed and engaged in sexual activity for an extended period. Although the sexual activity was reportedly consensual, the other women in the unit felt unsafe and were at risk of harm.
• At Wilkinson, an incarcerated person died following an altercation with a cellmate that involved a 12-inch metal shank. No staff were supervising that unit the night of the incident, and officers failed to conduct any rounds to count the inmates.
• We also found rampant sexual violence across the three facilities. In South Mississippi, for example, an individual told us that he was raped at knifepoint in a shower. Multiple gang members waited outside the shower area while he was assaulted to prevent others from interceding. He also reported that he had been previously assaulted at another Mississippi prison and denied protective custody.

We found that while the facilities have adopted reforms to improve conditions, they have not been sufficient, given the severity of the issues. The minimum remedial measures we identify in our report are a starting point for the state and the Mississippi Department of Corrections to create and implement long-lasting reforms in the state's prisons.

The Department of Justice has authority under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act to enforce constitutional protections for people incarcerated in state prisons and local jails. We are committed to using this authority to bring about humane conditions of confinement that are consistent with contemporary standards of decency and respect for basic human dignity.

People do not surrender their constitutional rights at the jailhouse door. Every state is constitutionally obligated to protect the people it incarcerates from known, pervasive and unchecked violence, and to house people in conditions that do not pose a serious risk of physical and psychological harm.

The Justice Department's efforts to protect the constitutional rights of incarcerated people are part of its mission to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all persons in the United States, particularly the most vulnerable members of our society. Black people, people of color, those with mental illness and the poorest among us, are disproportionately represented in the prison population. In fact, 61% of people in Mississippi's prisons and jails are Black, compared to 37% of the State's population. This is a racial justice issue.

Addressing unconstitutional conditions inside jails and prisons is one of our highest priorities. Currently, the department is enforcing 14 settlements concerning conditions in adult jails and prisons, including 10 consent decrees. In addition, we are suing the state of Alabama over the constitutionality of conditions in its prisons for men. We are investigating conditions in Georgia state prisons and in Texas's five secure youth facilities. In 2023, we opened new investigations into county jails in South Carolina and Georgia. We also concluded our investigation into the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, finding that Louisiana incarcerates thousands of people each year beyond their legal release dates, in violation of the 14th Amendment.

The unconstitutional conditions in Mississippi's prisons have existed for far too long, and we hope that today's announcement marks a turning point towards implementing sound, evidence-based solutions to these entrenched problems.

In closing, I want to acknowledge and credit Mississippi officials for cooperating with this investigation. We hope to reach a resolution with Mississippi on the actions necessary to address the constitutional violations we have identified and we look forward to working together to improve conditions at all four prisons we have investigated.

I will now turn it over to Clay Joyner, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, for his remarks.

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