Jerry Mitchell

The Clarion-Ledger

Some maximum security inmates at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution say they are on a hunger strike to protest “their harsh inhumane treatment."

Wendy Houston said her husband, Derrick, who is serving a 21-year sentence for armed robbery, and 22 other inmates in the Area 2 maximum security unit at the Leakesville prison are protesting. “Everyone we have turned to for help,” she said, “cannot assist them on bettering their conditions.”

Grace Fisher, director of communications for the state Department of Corrections, disputed there is a hunger strike, saying inmates began refusing food after being encouraged by an individual caught with contraband.

She said offenders' rights to food, clothing, shelter, medical attention and religious rights "will never be violated. Meals are still being prepared, certified by a certified dietitian, and are still being delivered as scheduled."

The department is "not force-feeding offenders," she said. "Because we are still investigating the contraband and those involved, we are limiting further comment."

Corrections officials, however, have cited a number of inmates with rules violations after they each refused three meals in a row.

Houston shared a statement from inmates who say they are “locked down 24 hours a day without a possibility of an outside recreation as the United States Constitution protects. Inmates must receive at least one hour a day, five days a week. This right hasn't been abided by for several years.”

Fisher said inmates are receiving outside recreation.

Inmates also complained about a lack of visitation by loved ones at the prison, which began as a 500-bed minimum security facility.

Fisher explained that "when we have assaults either on staff or inmates, find contraband to include cellphones, or investigate other types of illegal activities, we must limit movement in the entire facility during our investigation. We cannot assume that an incident is isolated, especially in dealing with gang affiliations. Preventing any harm to staff or inmates greatly outweighs the temporary loss of privileges for individual inmates. It is a matter of safety first for everyone involved."

Inmates also talked of inadequate or missing lighting, nonworking toilets and sinks, broken bedding or no mattresses.

They complained about the housing of those suffering from mental illness, who throw feces and urine, flood cells and make excessive noise: “Inmates (state) they would rather die than continue to be housed in South Mississippi Correctional Institution’s maximum security unit. Several inmates have even attempted suicide.”

Inmates described poor food, the presence of roaches, rats, spiders and flies, and the lack of air conditioning, which they say has led to temperatures soaring above 100 degrees on hot summer days.

“If a citizen left their dog or pet in the outside heat of a condemned dog house where temperature is 130 degrees, they would be arrested for animal cruelty and the pet would be taken away, so why should humans be treated worse than animals?” they asked.

In 2014, inmate Danny Singleton went on a hunger strike, complaining about conditions at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.

Corrections officials transferred him to the prison in Leakesville, saying they considered his hunger strike a “security threat.”

Contact Jerry Mitchell at (601) 961-7064 or jmitchell@gannett.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.