Federal lawsuit over 'barbaric' conditions at prison slated for trial Monday

Four inmates have died in the last two months, including two who died of opioid overdoses, said attorneys for inmates in a federal class-action lawsuit over conditions at the private-run East Mississippi Correctional Facility near Meridian.

Inmates are still living in barbaric and horrific conditions and their basic human rights are violated daily, said Jody Owens of the Southern Poverty Law Center Mississippi office.

On Friday, the attorneys conducted a phone press briefing about the trial in the 5-year-old prisoners’ lawsuit, which is scheduled to start Monday in federal court in Jackson. Federal judge William Barbour is set to preside.

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The lawsuit is against the Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Management & Training Corp., which has the state contract to house inmates at the private prison.

Plaintiffs described the private prison, which houses many suffering from mental illness, as a facility where inmates are being mistreated, beaten and exploited by gangs and others.

“Inmates are crying for relief,” Owens said.

The litigation alleges there was sex between officers and inmates, widespread contraband and weapons, a "buddy" system in which officers cover up the beatings of inmates and the rehiring of former employees who used excessive force.

In November 2012, the president of Utah-based Management & Training Corp. toured the institution and was quoted as saying "the living conditions were awful," according to the lawsuit.

However, MTC officials say they have made significant improvements since they took over the prison in July 2012.

But Owens said Friday with other plaintiffs’ attorneys that conditions at the prison aren’t any better than when the lawsuit was filed in 2013 and may have gotten worse.

Owens said SPLC tried to settle the lawsuit at least twice, but the Mississippi Department of Corrections and MTC refused.

MTC began operating East Mississippi Correctional Facility, one of the state's three private prisons, in 2012. Its current population is 1,291 inmates with a capacity for 1,500.

MDOC issued a statement Friday through spokeswoman Grace Fisher saying the agency's practice is not to discuss ongoing litigation. Therefore, the agency is reserving comments until after trial, she said.

MTC's corporate spokesman, Issa Arnita, said in a statement that the company can't speak to specific allegations because the case is in court, but said MTC officials can say "unequivocally" that the facility is safe, secure, clean and well run.

"From the warden on down, our staff are trained to treat the men in our care with dignity and respect. Our mission is to help these men make choices in prison and after they're released that will lead to a new and successful life in society," Arnita said.

Arnita said the facility is accredited by the American Correctional Association and the Correctional Education Association. It's also 100 percent compliant with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was created to further protect the rights of inmates.

Arnita said some of the improvements MTC, in partnership with the Department of Corrections, has made since MTC began operating the facility, include:

Security

New full-body scanner; 30-foot netting around the perimeter; iron reinforcements and locks installed in cells to prevent access to pipe chases; new canine unit to search for contraband; new motion sensors; additional razor wire installed on the interior perimeter fence; new high-intensity lighting installed around the perimeter; and upgraded security control boards.

Staffing

Enhanced training for all staff members, additional staff added to certain areas and shifts to improve overall operations.

Programming

More than 100 GEDs earned, nearly 1,000 vocational and other certificates awarded, increased "contact hours" (hours where inmates are engaged in meaningful activities including programming, work and recreation) from 101,000 hours in 2012 to 180,479 hours.

The trial is expected to last more than a month. Owens said the plaintiffs' case is expected to last four weeks before the state and MTC begin their defense.

Last month, Barbour denied a motion by the prisoners to prohibit the defendants from introducing evidence regarding the criminal histories of their witnesses but said the plaintiffs’ attorneys can raise objections on a case-by-case basis.

The prisoners also asked the judge to limit the state from bringing up evidence regarding alleged changes in conditions at the prison that occurred after July 14, 2017, the date when discovery closed.

However, Barbour denied that request, saying the current conditions at EMCF is probative on the issue of whether injunctive relief is warranted in the case, which is the only relief sought.