This is horrible. Beyond belief!!
US should be sued in the Hague for abusing its citizens.
America has the gall to pontificate about how badly Chinese prisoners are treated while this horror goes on daily in this country.
It seems the South has won despite losing in the Civil War if it can treat these prisoners, overwhelmingly Black, as if they are subhuman.
What will it take to stop this physical and mental torture of prisoners?
56
In three years time what has trump done to make America a better place? Absolutely not one single thing.
37
While prisons remove criminals from society to prevent them from committing further crimes, another important purpose is to deter those who might be contemplating committing crimes.
This is yet another article in the NYT’s ongoing efforts to develop sympathy for criminals and make it appear that criminals are actually victims.
To set the record straight, victims of crimes are the true victims, the perpetrators—and those who aid, abet and participate in crime with them—are criminals. I hope all the progressive prosecutors--and Democratic Presidential candidates--will give serious thought to what it means to eliminate bail, reduce sentences and allow criminals to run loose in our communities.
Who is responsible for post-release crimes committed by those released early? An apology to their future victims will be of small consolation for those who are harmed; and how about compensation and restitution for the actual victims?
Early release or release without bail of thousands of criminals is a recipe for increased crime, and increased numbers of victims. (Check federal statistics of recidivism rates—very sobering.)
Why doesn't the NYT run a long series of articles about how victims' lives have been harmed--or shattered--or taken--by criminals? Pretty easy to develop sympathy for victims, I should think.
Virtually no criminals are forced to commit their crimes; there is such a thing as free will. It's simple:
Just don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
27
@Mon Ray your comment is spot on. When I read about these prisoners, convicted of violent crimes upon other human beings, I can’t help but have sympathy for their victims. The thugs in the prison are in there of their own free will. Hopefully the conditions will leave a lasting impression on them when free again and provide some motivation to live a law abiding life.
9
@Mon Ray Excellent comment.
@Mon Ray If our system is so superior, why is our recividism rate through the roof? Why do we have SO MANY prisoners?
51
wait what country is this? every day its some other horrible thing going on in our country. Children locked in cages at the border homelessness & poor people being treated like trash the utter corruption of the government at every level. I don't know wether to run screaming or crying.
36
@rick Don't run. Help fix what you can. Talk to your friends, and make sure they vote.
16
@rick
It's America. The border crisis is new, but the rest of it....
6
We need to take note of the Scandinavian prison system and reform ours to theirs.
24
Mississippi lawmakers and the voters who elect them want this.
23
There is not a single jail or prison in this broken country that even comes near being Constitutional in fact our entire country has made it a point to be cruel and unusual with our endless punishments.
23
Have this read to all students. The message would be: "Don't do anything that would send you to prison. Now back to our regular studies."
6
@Erin No, the message should be that if you are going to be a criminal make sure you have as much money as Jeffrey Epstein had. That ensures a really cushy 'time served'.
12
@Erin If it's that easy, why do we still have prisons?
2
@Erin Innocent people go to prison all the time.
20
This is 2019. Any lawmaker, implying inmates are great and they don't really deserve basic human dignity and rights because they are inmates should be unfit for public office.
There is also a recent news story about how Mississippi runs debtors prison and benefits from exploiting poor people. (https://mississippitoday.org/2020/01/09/restitution/)
So, exploiting poor people and ignoring basic human dignity is probably part of the state governments DNA.
26
Didn't we have something called prison reform many decades ago? Didn't we once have laws against cruel and unusual treatment in prisons? Apparently, we need to have prison reform all over again and realize that when humans, despite being convicted of crimes are treated cruelly, we aren't much better than them.
13
This is what should be so appalling to us: we have a President sitting in the luxury of our White House who has committed known crimes far beyond any misdemeanor, and yet these men are treated like animals. I'm not saying they haven't harmed anyone (most of all themselves) in their actions, but the contrast cannot be lost on us. This is why our justice system is broken and it is in plain sight for all of us to see.
Is it justice for these men to be punished in this way? Does it help anyone or anything? No. It only reinforces the notion that life is unfair and anything you can get away with is okay.
29
Close the prison. Judges should refuse to send felons to this location. This cannot be fixed.
31
Ah Mississippi, where the livin is fine...if you want to experience the Third World, just go there. The state that featured the barbaric monstrosity of the breeding plantations (pronounced "planation" bu the natives) where slaves were bred by any means possible and sold off. A place that was sneered at by other Southerners as trashy even in the 1850s, despite the enormous wealth that its burgeoning cotton fields provided with unpaid labor. Its penal system is but a vestige of these barbarous times and indicts centuries of institutionalized racism. A dark night with no dawn despite modern electronics and telecommunications...
56
You’re making them stars,” he said, “and they’re convicts.”
they are also human beings.
56
While it might be true that cell phones are a "threat" to prison/jail security, you'll never convince me that they cause violence - otherwise they wouldn't allow the extremely expensive paid for phone contact or personal visits - both means of personal communication. And while it might be argued that the paid for phone calls are monitored, the visits aren't so the monitoring is just for show. So much of our penal system which the Supreme Court has decreed is "as punishment" not "for punishment" has been unnecessarily turned into "for punishment" to the detriment of our society overall.
8
If I were president I would appoint someone to look at all the prison systems in every country of the world and find out which countries have the most humane and effective ones. Obviously the prison systems in the United States are not functioning very well. I would even take that a step further and look at which countries have the lowest incarceration rates and find out why and then start employing whatever cultural attributes contribute to that.
21
@Gene Cass Finland & Norway
9
@A. Luykx Nothing in Finland, Norway or Sweden can be translated to the United States.
Those countries have a small, relatively homogenous, well-educated population and a culture with a largely intact social contract.
The U.S. does not. It's an apples / oranges comparison.
18
@Gene Cass It's unfortunate that most American policy makers are loathe to study the experiences of other nations - what approaches have worked, which ones haven't, and how we can factor those learnings into our own policies.
Most comparative analyses (and I use the term loosely) are shallow and self-serving. For example: "We should learn from Europe, where they let in too many refugees/Muslims/whatever, and now 45% of Paris is a NO GO zone." Or, "Yes, other nations with stricter gun laws have considerably less gun violence. But we're exceptional. What works in the rest of the world couldn't possibly work here."
7
When you are being held for a misdemeanor, and then you get 12 years for having a phone, the whole justice system is broken.
90
@bill Not quite sure how that indicates that the whole justice system is broken. After all, simply because they were being held for a misdemeanor does not exempt them from committing and being charged for felonies and then being convicted of them. While that particular individual sounded quite stupid, ignorance of the law is no excuse. NOT that I actually believe the hype that cell phones in prison/jail increase violence.
@Tim
You’re “not quite sure how that indicates the whole justice system is broken”. If it was someone you loved doing the 12 years I bet you’d gain an understanding.
23
Anyone who knows anything about the inside know that all the phones are brought into prison and sold by the guards. Just like the majority of drugs and contraband.
38
I defy anyone to announce that they have NEVER broken a law. All of us are guilty of an infraction that, if circumstances were just slightly different, would result in jail, if not prison.
It's quite easy to point an accusatory finger towards a convicted individual and expect that person to suffer unimaginable abuse due to their crime. It's much harder to own our own flaws and transgressions.
I ask you to envision your own--or a dear loved one--incarcerated in such deplorable conditions. You would be screaming to the free world in any way possible.
55
Don’t go to prison.
9
Let's send all prisoners to blue states. The progessives then can give them all the TLC they deserve.
8
@Reader In Wash, DC So much sarcasm! These people are human beings, it is shocking how the system is so broken that they live in third world conditions. Thank you to the NY Times and people like Jay-Z and Bryan Stevenson for bringing this to the attention of the public.
36
As if! Try to eliminate a problem by a quip? Sorry buddy, YOU are part of the problem!
17
@Reader In Wash, DC "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."
I wonder when the empathy left our great nation. Whatever happened to "there but for the grace of God go I" ?
29
This is horrific. It struck me reading this article that I bet the conditions in public schools aren’t a ton better in MS - at least in the counties that most of the inmates come from. Love to read another article on that.
30
I have heard stories that all the state prisons allow prisoners fancy gyms , movies ,tv great dinners and a roof over their heads in the cold and rain. Now cell phones . Where are these men learning to repent for their crimes. They need to quit complaining and be glad they got the above conditions compared to the poor homeless people out in the cold ,rain and snow.
4
What you say you heard isn't true. Why do people have to live in miserable conditions with mold and rodents. You're being unreasonable.
21
@D.j.j.k. If only repenting was the solution. It is a matter of education, increasing empathetic responses within the individual but most importantly correcting the environment that fosters criminal behavior, which includes educating people who misunderstand the problems and solutions.
Criminal behavior is a learned condition emanating from the social structure surrounding the individual/s ... sadly prison all too often still serves as the finishing school for those who would gladly trade the behavior for a better 'trade' but society can't be bothered nor is it educated or empathetic enough to understand the importance of eliminating the conditions that create criminal behavior.
6
Think of the smug outrage people would be expressing if these pics were smuggled out of a Chinese prison. But this is an American prison so we have people commenting that criminals deserve what they get. Why is it so hard to admit that we are going some things wrong, way wrong, and that we have to fix it?
50
Compare:
Trump murders a foreign General, directly leading to a plane full of innocent civilians being shot from the sky, killing nearly 200 people, bringing despair into the lives of their surviving families.
He pays $20 million to settle claims that he fraudulently operated his real estate “school.” He admits to defrauding his “charity” of $2 million. He brags about sexually harassing women. He pays a woman more than $100,000, trying to hide the fact that he’s had extramarital sex with her, then he lies about it. And he’s not in jail. He’s the President of the United States.
A boy sneaks a cellphone into jail and is sentenced to 12 years in prison? And his sentence is upheld? This is heartbreakingly unjust and cruel.
148
Prisons are fueled by greed just like homelessness is. Prisons, particularly private prisons that contract with cities, towns, and states are money makers. Those owners probably lobby for harsher laws enabling more people in prison thus more money for the owners. Our society is declining because of greed, corruption and lack of morality.
41
Mississippi is run by white people, and so is the US. The Congress is run by white people and so is the Supreme Court. There was a black president not long ago but he was run by white people too. So there you are.
8
Now we all live in Mississippi.
27
Mississippi was one of many states that between 1996 and 2001 received tens of millions of federal dollars under the Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth in Sentencing program. To receive these funds for building prisons, states had to commit to the requirement that violent inmates serve at least 85% of their sentences. Some states like Mississippi continue to enforce the minimum service requirement despite the fact that funding ended years ago (Mississippi code 47-5-138(5)).
One obvious flaw in this strategy is that it separates funding for building from funding for staffing, perhaps on some Field of Dreams belief that if you build it they will come. While this may be true of inmates (laws are likely to expand to ensure full use of expensive beds) it has not proven to be applicable to staff. The result is woefully understaffed prisons, compounded by inmates serving more time than is necessary because of the strict release credit laws. Thus, less money to devote to staffing and programs in a vicious circle of increasing prison populations.
I guess on reflection, there really is no strategic thoinking behind any of this.
17
The age old phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words", is probably more pertinent in prisons like Parchman than most anywhere else in the country.
17
A picture is worth a thousand words bit in America today a word ain’t worth a dime.
1
granted, they are criminals;but these conditions are an abomination. what has happened to our country?
31
@Frank Trump and his rotten ideology and cronies have happened to our country. This is AMERICA 2020.
19
Horrible story. This is something that society seems willing and able to do; throw away criminals, all getting a basic sentence of slow death by neglect, abuse and torture. No rehab in the MS State Pen.
19
Conditions in US prisons are no different than
Stalins gulags. This is torture plain and simple.
I don’t care what crime someone has committed, they are human beings.
This system is a continuation of slavery, incarcerating black peoples for petty crimes.
61
@Carla Thanks for calling this the torture that it is. Glad to see Jay-Z using his largesse to support a lawsuit. Kudos to the political prisoners in Mississippi for getting this information out!
18
Always amazing to see how quick the common slug is to point out how prisoners deserve whatever mistreatment they get. I assume these people also claim to be Christians.
40
Also amazing these same people have the same mindset as the prisoners who are in for violent crimes.
5
Mississippi treats its citizens badly enough, ranking close to last in education, poverty and health care. Imagine how it treats its incarcerated citizens. Even the warden says "...they're convicts" as if that makes them less than human. This situation is horrifying. Here's hoping JayZ and his cohort can make a difference with their lawsuit.
42
@auntrara When the start being referred to as "individuals" "and stop being referred people the degradation starts.
BTW: MS. has a list of some 800 occupations which are off-limits to parolees. The limiting of options after prison continues. The state also still has debtor's prisons. They prefer to live in the 1930's.
8
All I can think about after reading this insightful article, are the poor in America who live in these very same conditions every day, in rural areas as well as inner cities, yet did nothing wrong.
19
@Annie Aw- the good poor v. the bad poor. No doubt many of us have committed crimes and done things that went undetected or that we paid small fortunes to avoid prison for. All have fallen short. This is torture and nobody deserves this. NOBODY.
23
@Annie thank you. You are exactly right. And it is the law abiding people living in impoverished conditions like the conditions described here, that I feel bad for.
3
You can not have a conversation about imprisonment with talking about power, economic opportunities, education, difference, race, justice, etc...Privatizing much of our prison system has definitely NOT improved it and seems to have opened it up to unbelievable greed and corruption.
35
millions of dollars are made by the prison staff in smuggling these phones (among other things). as a group they are not people you'd in general want around your family (ie criminal rackateers). but, alas, you wouldn't particularly want most of the prisoners anywhere near your family either..
4
"The degree of civilisation in a society is revealed by entering its prisons.", said Dostoyevsky.
83
@Paul Longhouse “They’re not in maximum security prison for missing church on Sunday. Remember that.” said Mike from NJ
5
"Prison officials said contraband cellphones fuel violence and undermine security."
Their version of Executive Privilege
12
Why commit crimes if you know prison will be bad?
9
@Vivian maybe because outside is worse.
6
@Vivian The point of this piece is for people to know. These prisoners probably didn't know. And whether they knew or not, why does that make it okay to treat people like garbage - anywhere, any time?
16
@Vivian Why run prisons in a manner that is going to deepen trauma, be the opposite of rehabilitation, and in turn make us less safe when folks are returned to the community? These conditions are a horrific waste of taxpayer dollars and undermine public safety.
45
American people, you do realize that stories like these fly around the world and when people in other countries read them they think to themselves “the US seems to be a barbaric country”
The US should be ashamed to treat its people like this, it’s cruel and unusual in every developed nation in the world less one
72
Are there federal standards for prison conditions? If not, why not? Seems that it would be within the purview of cruel and unusual punishment. True, whether Washington would currently enforce such rules is another matter. But our humanity demands it.
12
Of course there are. In the 1970's (and later), the Louisiana Department of Corrections had hundreds of prisoners who were sentenced to serve in Angola State Penitentitiary. However, there was so much overcrowding, The Supreme Court of the United States ordered Louisiana to "Correct the problem." What did the state do? They spread these prisoners out amongst parish prisons. This was outrageous. You had people who were charged with a crime, (andcould not afford bail) waiting for their day in court mixed in with convicted violent criminals. All were sharing the same dormitories. In 1976, I saw 2 young men raped repeatedly. They had only been charged with a crime. Both men tried to escape by running and making it ver 2 razor wire fences. Boith were shot in the back with 12 gauge shotguns (loaded with birdshot). 2 days later, they were back in the same dormitories. What a system.
16
“It sort of defeats the purpose of a prison wall, if you will,” says a former corrections official, now a professor (!). And what is the purpose of a prison wall? To make people suffer, I assume. But retribution, rather than rehabilitation, can only be justified by the obsolete religious concept of free will. If we cared about rehabilitation, we'd want people to stay in contact with their families, we'd want them to be able to take care of their finances, we'd want them to keep up with events outside and with new technology, and we'd want them to be able to tell the media when corrections officials abuse them, refuse medical attention and wink at beatings by other prisoners.
19
Mississippi has just under 3 million people. Statistics from the state show that there were 20K prisoners at the end of December held in 89 jails in 82 counties. What is going on at Parchman is horrendous and as of a day ago, Unit 29 was being evacuated for "renovation." 300 prisoners were moved to a private prison that will be paid $2 million to house them for 90 days. That leaves 625 prisoners with nowhere to go.
12 years for possession of a cell phone is a preposterous sentence. The judge should be removed from the bench; if it is typical in all courts, then All the Judges should be removed and maybe sentenced to a month in one of their jails.
I heard an interview with Tyler Perry yesterday; he said his new Netflix movie was inspired by having watched "Gideon's Army," a movie about 3 public defenders in the deep South. We should all be appalled by a "normal" bail amount for simple shoplifting of $40,000.00 in C!ay County, GA, which was mentioned in the film. May as well be a death sentence - loss of job, home, car, kids while sitting in jail for 6-8 months awaiting a trial?
Our entire Country is in desperate need of nationwide bail and prison reform. Each and every person needs to be treated with dignity and kindness no matter their situation. Life is hard enough for all of us as it is.
65
“It sort of defeats the purpose of a prison wall, if you will,” says a former corrections official, now a professor (!). And what is the purpose of a prison wall? To make people suffer, I assume. But retribution, rather rehabilitation, can only be justified by the obsolete religious concept of free will. If we cared about rehabilitation, we'd want people to stay in contact with their families, we'd want them to be able to take care of their finances, we'd want them to keep up with events outside and with new technology, and we'd want them to be able to tell the media when corrections officials abuse them, refuse medical attention and wink at beatings by other prisoners.
5
Well.. perhaps we wouldn't have this problem if prison phone companies would stop charging inmate families in excess of $50 dollars for a 3 minute phone call!
69
With all of the problems in our country from school shootings to families with illnesses who go bankrupt because they are uninsured, it is extremely difficult to summon much sympathy for convicted criminals who made a series of wrong choices throughout their lives that led them to prison.
Vermin, mold, lack of hygiene and dangerous conditions are dreadful. No doubt about it. But then again, these conditions are taking place in prison. I guess we should care a little but did the convicts care about the consequences when they committed their crimes?
I love these stories. There is an underlining desire to correct some sort of wrong by filing this report, but it's an uphill battle. The prisoners lack of humanity is one reason they are treated inhumanely. This is how American justice has been administered and lots of law abiding citizens are just fine with it.
On the long line of suffering humanity, convicts should be last for consideration if they manage to get on line at all. In the end they are expendable. And mind you, Anerican prisons are a luxury compared to prisons in other parts of the world.
So my heart goes out to the victims of their crimes. That's where the compassion really belongs.
7
Well, I assume you know statistics, and that most in prison have NOT committed violent crimes, and that most are fueled by drug addiction, mostly prescribed opioids, and disproportionally the less harmful, marijuana.
Prisons in other countries are NOT worse than ours, our prisons are by far one of the worsts in most countries.
The ideology that NO ONE can make a mistake, and that THEY ALL deserve BRUTAL treatment is unbelievable. Literally saying that someone who has evaded taxes deserves no heat, no working water, to be exposed to violence, and to be treated like garbage.
Everyone in there did not brutally kill their grandma.
America’s prisons are not reforming anyone.
18
It isn't the prisoners lack of humanity that's the reason they are bring treated inhumanly. It's OUR lack of humanity. They are not all guilty of horrendous crimes and in any case, guilty or not they are still human beings. Most people would not treat animals as inhumanely as prisoners are treated in the US.
16
@PeterW
Someone who shoplifted deserves this?
Someone guilty of a misdemeanor?
12 years sentence for a cellphone?
Have you no heart?
28
How can you expect the best from a person when they are treated as disposable garbage. This is so sad. Inundate that prison, and all prisons, with phones. Every bit of their life should be documented and filmed. Embarrassing the overseers, whether state or privately owned, will lead to change.
18
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded almost 45 years ago that the deplorable conditions of confinement at Parchman constituted cruel and unusual punishment and affirmed sweeping remedial orders imposed by the federal district court in Gates v Colliers (5th Cir. 1974) 501 F.2d 1291. It seems that things have not changed much.
15
It's also inhumane for guards to work in these conditions. Most of the comments here seem to have little sympathy for convicted prisoners, and I suppose it's up for debate whether mold, filth and vermin constitute "cruel and unusual". I would say yes, but regardless there are many people spending their days in these unhealthy, disgusting conditions who are not convicted criminals but generally low wage prison guards without many options for working elsewhere in predominantly rural areas left out of the American economy. Do they not deserve to go to work in a reasonably clean environment?
17
Let's not loose sight of the real problem, which is humanitarian abuse. The US penal system is an abomination. These are all someone sons and daughter, once all beautiful babies, who have gone down the wrong life path for a multitude of reasons. Yes, incarceration is important and needed. Some did some really hideous crimes. But at a base level, an advanced society like America is much better then this. So why are we being so barbaric? What would the likes of Jesus, Buddha, Krishna or any spiritual leader say?
20
These are violent people, the story ends with someone who had done some pretty violent things. Think about that, this is because he got caught, how many things did he do that he did not get caught for? Sorry, we have other fish to fry and you should have thought about this before you chose to do criminal things. Had a cousin that cried because she could not understand why "her baby" got 40 years to life for getting in a fight that ended up with her "baby" killing someone.
7
@Helen Even if we accept (for the sake of argument) that these conditions are acceptable for people convicted of violent offenses, the reality is that many people are incarcerated for non-violent crimes and some have been wrongly convicted in the first place. Mold, broken toilets, and vermin don’t distinguish between categories of inmates.
5
The risks of cellphones being used by inmates for crime outside the prison (directing drug deals and gang hits) far outweighs the benefit of using said phones to record the horrible conditions inside.
The rights of general public safety takes president over the rights of convicted prisoners any day of the week.
23
@megachulo Do you have any evidence supporting that assumption? How many people in prison are there for those types of crimes? Are you at all weighing the benefits to inmates of being able to stay in touch with friends and family? That's not only a civil liberties issue, but an issue that has bearing on recidivism.
13
@megachulo
Having worked in maximum security prisons in NYS I can tell you that treating inmates poorly is the most illogical behavior that government could engage in. Why? Because most inmates were abused in one way or another when young. Abusing them more (especially when most are eventually released from prison) is the formula for recidivism.
Without accountability and oversight in prisons by outsiders, abuse and neglect of inmates is almost a guarantee.
48
@megachulo No, they don't. Prisoners are human and have rights like the rest of us. We, on the outside, committed an equal or greater number of crimes--and because of our privilege, or our skin color, or our ability to retain counsel, we faced no consequences.
You, and those who believe as you do, perpetuate this inequality by refusing to consider prisoners our equals. And this guarantees that if YOU are ever wrongly convicted, and end up in these circumstances, there will be precious little sympathy available for you. And for once that will be a just situation rather than an unjust one.
23
who knew prisons had bad conditions? it's sad that these people didn't have a choice to stay out of jail.
13
@mike I agree that crime-doers should face penalties but lets not forget that the US is the best nation in the world and we are above treating our incarcerated citizens like dogs. Rat infestation and inmates sleeping on bare concrete is a bit barbaric for our country I think. I'm not saying cell phones should be allowed, but maybe some kind of third-party hotline access to report wrongdoings is in order.
10
@mike Is it possible that some are wrongfully incarcerated or that the system is lacking in justice in terms of everything from representation to sentencing? Just because one breaks the law does not mean we throw out all their rights.
9
@mike How about we have the police plant drugs in your home, and as you're hauled before a judge you can explain your choices?
10
Inmates always have, and will always, plan, scheme and collude to lessen the restrictions on their freedom. The more corrupt the system, the more unjust their sentences, the harder they try and the more likely they are to succeed in breaking the isolation from the outside world. The same conditions that oppress the inmates promote cynicism and opportunism in the guards, who are almost certainly understaffed, underpaid and working under great stress themselves. Contraband, illicit privileges, even occasional escapes, are the fruit of the unspoken guard/inmate pact to make their mutual lives more endurable. Been there, done that, myself.
22
We should stop pretending that we are a country of laws. I think it would do most people good to tell the truth that we don't have real laws applied fairly and that many Americans are sadists who enjoy causing pain to others.
74
@Chris
It would help if the president and his party would start telling the truth about what's going on in the country.
2
@Chris
It would help if the president and his party would start telling the truth about what's going on in the country.
I swear, when the "alternate facts" meme came out, why didn't we swear out an outrage? How come we haven't been outraged about this person at every step? I can't understand why we aren't rampaging at every action of the Republican response to this person since the beginning...I just don't get it!
1
@PhillyMomma
There are alternative facts. Your boss says you were 15 minutes late yesterday. You remind her you stayed 2 hours late to help with an urgent project. The liberal media got called out on their cherry picking facts and got mad at being caught.
2
These cell phones are definitely having an impact on security - the job security of those sadistic officers working in these prisons.
It has to be difficult to supervise hardened criminals, which most of these inmates probably are, but that doesn't excuse filthy, vermin infested, living areas. And these cell phones are likely to force the prisons to reform and provide better conditions for their prisoners.
19
It's ironic that the article highlights the benefit of cellphone images but then only includes a few.
52
As A Canadian reading this story it appears to me that the U.S. prisons are like something one would find in a 3rd world country. Perhaps the privatization of said has caused it, as the less spent on prisoners means bigger profits for the corporations who run them. I thought a prison sentence was for rehabilitation, They seem to be turning into colleges for criminals to learn the tricks of the trade. I agree there needs to be a deterrent, but we have to keep decency ,basic human compassion,and understanding in mind when we place these people in harsh conditions as such..After all, you are a product of your environment.
173
@Bob You live in a Utopia, basic human compassion for criminals, really you do the crime you do the time. I came from a family that was working class poor, with criminal elements in it. I grew up and out, have a business partner, and his wife and son where mules (he was kind of a Look Away person). I have no pity on either one of them, they had many chances. They do not want to reform. So bad mouth what we don't do, but look at the reality of what humans are really like. Canada escaped this mish mash of people and growth.
2
@Bob Considerable parts of the U.S. today are 3rd world, or worse. Prison conditions as indicated in this article are just one manifestation of this.
21
@Bob
This very disturbing trend of privatising what should be government-run services ( transport, prisons etc.) has reached Australia. Obviously, the overwhelming concern of the companies running them is profit.
12
It's all true - the inmates suffer unimaginable horrors, especially on Death Row, where the water is turned off which means toilets won't flush. Each inmate is promised two 16.9 oz bottles of water with each meal. Night before last, they got two peanut butter packs and two slices of bread for supper, and no water. How does a person eat peanut butter without water? Yesterday there was new commotion at 29L. An inmate sawed part of a pipe or rod off, and was threatening an unarmed guard with it, demanding her keys. In quick response, another guard ran to get a rifle from a guard who was supervising a contact visit, leaving her unarmed. To say that Parchman is grossly understaffed is not an exaggeration. There are no more than two guards per cell block, sometimes only one. They are afraid to go down the halls, a lot of which are flooded. There are large rats. Mice droppings sometimes in food. Inmates with serious psychiatric problems who are not given proper medication.
117
@FitGirl
When you kill an innocent person you lose you're right to complain. About anything.
The person you killed is gone. Life over. Dead. How do you think that feels?
6
@John Doe
So why doesn't the state just kill the accused/convicted right away instead of putting them in subhuman conditions and torturing them for years? Because it isn't legal. Just as the conditions that these folks are subjected to isn't legal.
13
@FitGirl So the killers on death row got peanut butter sandwiches for dinner and nothing to wash it down with? Well cry me a river. At least they can eat. More than we can say about their victims.
7
"Inmates crave the limelight."
Actually I wonder if maybe they crave minimally humane treatment and an acknowledgment that they are human beings?
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@QTCatch10 Exactly; the outgoing governer's claim is nonsensical. The reporting is anonymous; how does it work out to "limelight" for anybody? I wish he had been challenged on it.
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Minimally humane treatment and the recognition that some suffer from untreated mental illness. Many if not most of these inmates will one day walk among us again. Perhaps we need to set a better example. I am not naive, but humane treatment and educational opportunities might at least help.
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None of this is shocking to me. I worked within the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) for nearly 30 years beginning in the mid-1980s. What's happening in Mississippi right now sounds much like CDCR 30 years ago.
Today, CDCR is relatively safe, the facilities are clean and in working order, staff are well-trained, and inmates receive quality medical / mental health care.
How did CDCR do it? Under a lot of court orders, supervision by court-appointed monitors, and in the case of health care, federal receivership. CDCR also began paying its staff well, making corrections a solid career choice, not an alternative to working in fast food.
Prison reform isn't sexy. California didn't clean up its act until it was forced to. Don't expect much improvement from Mississippi without strict oversight by the courts.
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@Randy “ not an alternative to working in fast food. ”. Very well stated.
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The immigration system is cruel to immigrants who are caught crossing the boarder, and sadly it appears we don't treat our own citizens much differently. For the governor to say that these Mississippi inmates are convicts and not stars misses the point entirely. They are human beings and are in every way entitled to have their basic needs met.
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@Hannah Brid - The "immigration system" fully allows for LEGAL IMMIGRATION but disallows criminal trespass into the US. Therefore, "immigrants who are caught crossing the boarder" aren't actually immigrants but illegal trespassers.
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@Dr. ER Doc
They are not criminals.
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@Dr. ER Doc
What? Most of the folks attempting to cross the borders are doing so by legal means. They ask for asylum and then are detained, mostly in Mexico now, until they can get a court date. Granted, some try to cross the border at an illegal entry port, but that's not the norm.
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Twelve years in prison for having a cellphone in a county jail? No wonder prisons are over crowded. There are people who get less time for drunk driving involving a fatality. How can twelve years for having a cellphone be anything but cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution?
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@Linda I'm going to guess that Willie Nash wasn't white. And even if I'm wrong about that, he's got no resources to advocate for himself and his needs. As a 61-year old solidly middle class white man, I have all but zero trust of the police and any corrections officials. While I've no doubt a good many of people in jail need to be there, the race and class issues, and the money to be made by those in the incarceration industry, leave me putting more stock in what the inmates have to say about prison conditions. Law enforcement and corrections officials, and governors such as Bryant, are not to be trusted. Cell phones don't cause riots. Inhumane conditions do.
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@Linda -- It can because Mississippi is run by white people, and so is the US. The Congress is run by white people and so is the Supreme Court. There was a black president not long ago but he was run by white people too. So there you are.
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@Linda
And, he obviously didn't know that it was illegal to have the phone since he asked the guard for a charger. Sheesh! I'm just baffled.
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So will the people treating the inmates with less regard than farm animals ever see justice? Are they accountable in any way? Are they are in violation of laws, and if yes, does that mean they themselves could face prison?
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Mississippi deserves a new cash crop. If Parchman was once a working farm for cotton, perhaps it is time to be a working farm for marijuana. Decriminalization and legalization would do a world of good for Mississippi, and maybe even Parchman.
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@Bill Tyler
Mississippi may need a new cash crop, but a prison should not be a profit center. The inmates are there because they have broken the law and are in need of, for want of a better word, re-education in how to survive in the outside world. They are not, and should not become, slaves producing anything that the state can then sell for a net profit.
Once that sort of thing starts up the prison population becomes a work force to be exploited (and they will be exploited), an income source for the state, and a source of patronage.
Making the inmates work, I have no problem with that. The prison has to be run, there is work to be done, and they can learn skills. Running a prison as a profit center is nothing but slavery under another name.
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@Alternate Identity
You sure got that right. Didn't anyone see Shawshank?
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@Alternate Identity
Earning their keep is not being a slave.
It is difficult to believe that restrictions on cell phones achieve anything. Perhaps if they all have them it would pacify the inmate population as they could spend their time on Facebook instead of more nefarious activities
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@Bird Not mentioned in this article is how much money is made by carriers and prisons by forcing inmates to use landlines. I suspect that is one of the reasons why they hate cellphones so much. Check it out.
https://www.prisonphonejustice.org/
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