What a horrible, ugly case!
I have not seen this diaried, so I'll just put out some links and quotes about the East Mississippi Correctional Facility and the class-action lawsuit that the ACLU is bringing together with the SPLC. The inhumane treatment of prisoners is probably prevalent even in publicly run prisons. However, subcontracting prison management and prisoner care to the lowest corporate bidder will certainly not improve on that situation. A prison full of mentally ill prisoners with no, or only sub-standard care will quickly result is a situation akin to hell on earth.
NEW LAWSUIT: Massive Human Rights Violations at Mississippi Prison
East Mississippi Correctional Facility is hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. Patients with severe psychiatric disabilities go without basic mental health care. Many prisoners attempt suicide. This video is the story of a young man who succeeded.
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Rape, abuse (both by guards and fellow prisoners) and torture is apparently rampant.
Transcript of a letter received from a prisoner:
My name is __ and I am 23 years old and although my past criminal record isn't at its best, at heart I'm still a great kid!
After being locked up for about six months, I suffered from something many young males would hate to speak on and that's rape. I was raped at Eastern Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian, MS. I was beat brutally and faced several facial and rectum injuries from this attack. I was raped, robbed, and assaulted by several other prisoners.
I was held hostage due to the attack in a cell. I was threatened with knives and tormented by these inmates for several hours.
I was raped from 11:30pm @nite until 3:30am in the morning by one other prisoner. As he raped me continuously all I could do was cry because one false move and I knew this guy would take my life. After being a victim of rape by another male I am suffering still from anxiety, depression and stress issues because of this attack.
I fault the reason that I'm in prison today. If I had one wish I would wish that I never violated the law and shoplifting, which is what got me in prison. I've always wanted to live a normal life and hang out with friends and enjoy.
But due to this tragic incident that happened to me all I want to do is speak out to others that are suffering from what I went through and let them know it's okay to speak up and tell someone because no one should be violated of their sexual personal space.
I was hurt very badly and sometimes I feel like it's my fault but at the end of the day I know it wasn't.
Again my name is __ and I too was a victim of rape.
This blog post was adapted from a handwritten letter the victim sent to the ACLU. Click here to read the complete letter.
Mississippi sued over for-profit prison where inmates sell leashed rats
Officials at a corporate Mississippi prison will have to answer for alleged human rights abuses that took place in one of the state’s for-profit correction centers now that two major-league civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit addressing the issue.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced Thursday they have filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Mississippi because of how inmates at East Mississippi Correctional Facility are constantly at “grave risk of death and loss of limbs.”
The suit alleges that inmates in the prison, which is the state’s primary special needs facility for convicts with mental health issues, are subjected to long isolation periods in “barbaric” conditions, often in rat-infested cells with broken toilets.
Reuters
Inmates at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian live under "barbaric" conditions, in filthy quarters without working lights or toilets, forcing them to defecate on Styrofoam trays or into trash bags, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed in the lawsuit.
Beatings, rape, robbery and riots are commonplace, and inmates are denied access to medication and psychiatric care, the 83-page complaint stated.
The privately run prison "is an extremely dangerous facility operating in a perpetual state of crisis" and inmates' human rights are violated daily, according to the groups. Some prisoners set fires in a desperate attempt to get medical attention in emergencies, the lawsuit said.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections refuses to comment on the story.
Representatives of the company which operates the facility, Management & Training Corporation, claim that:
...spokesman Issa Arnita said it has been "working very hard to improve the conditions and (has) made a lot of progress over these past 10 months." (from the Reuters link above)