Justice Department Investigates Conditions in Mississippi Prisons After Inmate Deaths

The entrance to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Miss., in a file photo. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the Mississippi prison system after a string of inmate deaths in the past few months, officials said on Feb. 5, 2020. Rogelio Solis, File/AP Photo

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the conditions at Mississippi state prisons after a string of inmate deaths in the past few months.

The department announced on Feb. 5 it will investigate the conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman), Southern Mississippi Correctional Institute, Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, following at least 15 people who died inside state prisons since late December.