Multiple Mississippi prisons controlled by gangs and violence, DOJ report says

Three Mississippi prisons that house about 7,200 people are controlled by gangs and rife with violence, violating the constitutional rights of people incarcerated at all three facilities, a scathing Department of Justice report said.

The report found violence, gang control and trafficking of contraband had been happening inside the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, South Mississippi Correctional Institution, and Wilkinson County Correctional Facility for years. Investigators concluded that the Mississippi Department of Corrections failed to protect inmates from physical violence and adequately supervise incarcerated inmates. Instead, corrections increased the use of solitary confinement which increased harm for the inmates, the report released Wednesday found.

"Our investigation uncovered chronic, systemic deficiencies that create and perpetuate violent and unsafe environments for people incarcerated at these three Mississippi facilities," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in a statement after concluding its four-year investigation.