By Hudson Coombs
Mississippi State, Miss. (Take 30 News)--- By January 20th of 2020, the number of deaths in the Mississippi Prison system had risen to 12. With no end in sight to this constant bloodshed, celebrities are getting involved in order to bring awareness to the horrible conditions of Mississippi prisons, which they believe to be the cause of the bloodshed.
Out of the three state prisons in Mississippi, the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi has been the setting of the majority of these deaths. Due to the deterioration of the prison, inmates are able to hide weapons, phones and other items in the walls and ceilings of their units, such as in unit 29, a large section of the prison where a number of these killings have occurred. With these items, inmates have been able to coordinate these riots and other acts of violence. With the help of music icons Yo Gotti and Jay-Z, Parchman inmates have filed a lawsuit against the prison officials, blaming the officials and the poor physical conditions of the prison for the recent deaths.
Take 30 News spoke with current Mississippi State Sociology professor, Dr. Kecia Johnson, about what can be done to put an end to these killings. She said that the problem is not just the poor condition of the prisons, but the lack of correctional officers.
“In terms of correctional officers,” Johnson said, “Mississippi has the lowest rate of pay in terms of correctional officers in the United States and so that is not making the profession very attractive to individuals who may be interested in corrections. So, once those salaries are increased, they will be able to hire more correctional officers and that would help in terms of maintaining order within these prisons.”
After touring the prison, newly elected Governor Tate Reeves closed Unit 29 at Parchman and had inmates transferred to other prisons to counteract the issue of overcrowding. As the people of Mississippi rally for change in the prison system, Governor Tate Reeves plans to aid the prisons in the near future in order to prevent further loss of life.