Human Rights Lawyer Encourages Legislators to Keep On the Federal Prison Investigation
Mississippi lawmakers need to act in the next couple of months to improve conditions inside state prisons that are crowded, shabby and violent, a human rights lawyer told legislators Thursday. Here is the latest news on the Federal Prison Investigation.
Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi law school, said one quick step would be to reduce the prison population by emulating the mass commutation of some prison sentences in Oklahoma — another Republican-led state with a high incarceration rate.
More than 450 Oklahoma inmates were released in a single day in November after the retroactive reduction of sentences for simple drug possession and low-level property crimes.
Michael Frantz, Director of Jail Time Consulting, states that the inmates released were Oklahoma State Inmates. Although Frantz applauds this reduction of Oklahoma state inmates, he feels more states should be adopting these inmate reductions and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as well, should follow suit and reduce the number of federal prison inmates. Frantz comments, “There are way too many inmates in federal prison that should not be there and society as a whole would be better off to release many of the minimum security or low level offenders who would then join society as productive members and stop being a drain on the resources of the American taxpayers!”
Why This is Important
The U.S. Justice Department announced last week that it is investigating Mississippi’s prison system after a string of inmate deaths in recent months.
At least 16 inmates have died since late December, many of them amid outbursts of violence. Most of the deaths happened at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, where health inspections have also shown longstanding problems with broken toilets and moldy showers.
Michael Frantz states that when prison conditions become this despicable, the inmates feel they must do something to bring the attention of these horrible conditions to the prison, the staff, and the public. No one, and I mean no one, should be forced to try to exist in these conditions.
Speaking of the federal prison investigation experts, Johnson told lawmakers: “We have to take it seriously because I promise you they do.”
What’s Being Done About It
He appeared before two Mississippi House committees — Corrections and Judiciary B.
More than two dozen prisoners’ rights protesters attended the hearing at the state Capitol, wearing thick black tape over their mouths to symbolize what they said was state leaders’ unwillingness to hear about people being hurt or killed in prisons.
“We will continue to be a voice for the voiceless,” Sharon Brown of the Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition said in a statement.
Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and Johnson said it has the third-highest incarceration rate in the world.
The state’s prison population increased dramatically starting in the mid-1990s after lawmakers required all felons to serve at least 85% of their sentences. The number of prisoners grew from about 12,500 in 1995 to a peak of about 23,000 in 2008. It is now about 19,000.
The 85% rule was erased years ago, but Johnson said that as of November, more than 14,000 Mississippi inmates had at least one sentence that makes parole impossible.
A bill that legislators could consider this year would open the possibility of parole consideration. Inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes could be considered for parole after serving 25% of a sentence or ten years, whichever is less.
Those convicted of violent crimes could be considered after serving 50% of a sentence or 20 years, whichever is less.
Consultant Frantz stated that both federal and state prisons are way overcrowded and more sentence reduction programs are needed to help those non-violent offenders get home sooner. Currently statistics show that many current state and federal inmates are no risk to society and need to be released back to their families, loved ones and start contributing to society instead of being a burden to society.
How This Would Help
Such a system would give inmates an incentive to behave well and to participate in education or training programs, Johnson said. He said the current system lacks such incentives for many inmates.
“With this all-stick-and-no-carrot system, we have deprived ourselves of a very important tool for protecting inmates and the correctional officers who work in our prisons,” Johnson said in an interview after the meeting.
Republican Rep. Nick Bain asked Johnson about staffing levels at Mississippi prisons. Leaders of the state Department of Corrections have told legislative leaders for years that it’s challenging to hire guards because of low pay.
Johnson said Mississippi has one guard for almost every 17 inmates, while Louisiana has one guard for every 5.5 inmates, and Tennessee has one guard for every four inmates.
“We’re not going to hire our way out of this problem,” Johnson said.
A Mississippi Parole Board member, Steven Pickett, said Thursday that Mississippi needs to improve programs to help people after they leave prison, such as those to ensure that people with addiction don’t slip back into illicit drug use.
“Everybody is going to perform better in some type of structure with expectations,” Pickett said.
Questions About the Federal Prison Investigation?
Contact Michael Frantz, Federal and State Prison Consultant and CEO of Jail Time Consulting, to discuss or request any of the 41 services offered both federal and state inmates, defendants, and their families. We cover a wide variety of inmate assistive services, from reputation restoration to early release. Let us help you and your family during the incarceration process.