As mentally ill prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility were suffering from shocking human rights abuses – prolonged isolation, lack of medical treatment, rampant violence and more – the head of the prison system was allegedly collecting bribes for awarding contracts to the company running the prison for profit.

Jody Owens, managing attorney in the SPLC’s Jackson, Mississippi, office discussed the situation and the SPLC’s lawsuit over conditions at the private prison during an in-depth interview this week on MSNBC’s The Docket.

“There’s a lot of money and very little accountability,” Owens says.

Watch the interview here.

Owens is also quoted in New York Times articles about the scandal here and here.