Foretold 'Uprising' Hits Underfunded Mississippi Prisons
Associated Press January 7, 2020

Jackson, Miss.(AP) - The leader of Mississippi's underfunded prison system was pleading with lawmakers for money to hire more guards and pay them better in 2012 when he warned, "I see trouble down the road."

Christopher Epps, a longtime Mississippi Department of Corrections employee, would later go to prison himself for collecting $1.4 million in bribes. But during budget hearings in October 2012, he said keeping salaries for guards the lowest in the nation would work only "as long as we don't have an uprising."

The uprising arrived last week when five inmates died at the hands of fellow prisoners and two of the state's largest prisons were rocked by what corrections officials called "major disturbances" between gangs. Some observers called them riots.

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Photo taken by an inmate at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman shows inmates lying on the floor next to a full toilet. (Photo via AP)

Prison spokeswoman Grace Simmons Fisher said Monday she's "still awaiting vertification" of how many prisoners have been injured, and officials haven't answered many other questions. Southern Poverty Law Center spokeswoman Jen Fuson said attorneys who asked to visit their clients on Tuesday at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman were told visits might be allowed Friday.

Now, with a new governor's inauguration approaching and a new prison chief to be selected, Mississippi leaders face choices. They could pump tens of millions more dollars into a prison budget that already strains finances in the nation's poorest state. They could try to resume stalled progress toward letting out inmates in a state with one of the world's highest incarceration rates. Or they could try to put a Band-Aid on the crisis and keep locking people up without spending more money.

Phil Bryant, Mississippi's outgoing governor, on Monday blamed gangs operating inside the prison system, saying prisons are difficult to manage "under the best circumstances." He spoke specifically about the infamous Parchman.

"Someone asked earlier, who's responsible for what's happening at Parchman? The inmates," Bryant told reporters. "The inmates are the ones that take each other's lives. The inmates are the ones that fashion weapons out of metal."

But others say keeping prisoners safe is the state's responsibility.

"The Mississippi Department of Corrections needs to be responsible for this massacre," said Malaika Canada, a prisoner advocate whose son is imprisoned in Mississippi.

After violence Thursday, guards and state troopers marched some prisoners at Parchman into Unit 32, a cellblock closed in 2011 as part of a lawsuit settlement. In July 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union told a federal judge that Unit 32's living conditions were "as bad as anywhere in the country."

Jessica Schraub shared photos and video with The Associated Press that says her fiance took after he was moved into Unit 32. The photos were provided on condition of anonymity for the inmate because he took the images with a contraband cellphones. The images show water running down facility hallways and cells with no mattresses. Inmates in the video say the unit has no running water as they try to turn on a faucet and a shower, and they point to dirty cell doors and walls, describing mildew with peeling paint.

Bryant, a Republican who leaves office Jan. 14, said Monday that "inmates' needs are being met" with adequate food, bottled water and prescription medicine as needed.

In addition to state troopers and sheriff's deputies, Mississippi got help from Tennessee in the crisis. Dorinda Carter, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction, said 14 members of its special operations tactical unit were sent Sunday to assist at Mississippi's request.

Two prisoners escaped from Parchman during the disturbance. Both have been recaptured. Dillion Williams was caught Monday in a wooded area near Rossville, Tennessee, by officers from multiple agencies.