Families Against Mandatory Minimums cited evidence of unsafe conditions. This included violence, weapons and understaffing at the second-largest state prison. These claims were based upon letters and photos sent by prisoners to the organization. FAMM President Kevin Ring stated that Parchman had been mentioned to them over the years. Ring stated that “but it’s only in the last few weeksthat we started to receive more clips, videos, and messages from people inside.” Ring added, “To see inside of a cell, water damage, black mold, flooding — it just seems as if there’s something happening here.” Ring said that the Sunflower County facility houses more than 3,000 prisoners from all over the state. This is in contrast to the conditions found in Alabama prisons which were deemed unconstitutional by the DOJ last month. FAMM also condemned the impact of frequent lockdowns on family members, where many routine prison functions like in-person visits and commissary are cancelled. The Mississippi Department of Corrections didn’t immediately respond to a request. Following a sudden surge in social media posts about photos and videos from Parchman Correctional Institution in Leakesville, the call for action was made. Images show showers with stained walls and floors, sparse food trays, and emaciated men lying on their backs on the ground on mats. Two individuals identified themselves as former prisoners and the fiancees of current inmates and claimed to be the source of the photos and videos. They were posted to a Facebook group calling for reform of prisons earlier this month. According to Kelvin Sanders, who shared dozens of photos on Facebook, many of the photos depict Parchman. Two men were seen fighting in bunk beds with Mississippi Today. He also shared videos. According to a spokesperson, neither the video nor the photos could be verified by the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Sanders said that it was difficult to forget about his time at Parchman. Sanders provided a photo of a 2017 MDOC inmate ID card bearing his name. Sanders said that he managed to keep an SD card with the photos he had taken using a contraband cellphone from 2016 until the end of his sentence in January this year. Sanders claimed that he was contacted by an unknown number after posting the photos online. Sanders claimed that the caller, claiming to be an MDOC employee, threatened Sanders with retaliation. However, Sanders stated that he wasn’t afraid as he had completed his sentence in January. Since then, he has moved to Mississippi. A spokesperson for the agency confirmed that Sanders was in MDOC custody. He was at Parchman on and off from March 1997 to January 2019. However, Sanders’s claim about threats could not be verified. Lakeshia Payton, whose fiance works at SMCI, made several videos and photos public that she claimed depicted South Mississippi Correctional Institution, Greene County, this month. Payton claimed that she wept when she received the media from another employee at the facility. Payton also provided Mississippi Today with images that show mold on the walls. She said that she couldn’t look at the videos. Payton stated that she had the videos for several months. After months of being locked up at SMCI for months, Payton finally uploaded them. Carol Leonard, a Tennessee-based advocate to prisoners and their families through her social media channels, shared the photos and video. Leonard stated in an interview that the leakage of this material is a risky business for the guys. The penalties for possessing contraband or a cell phone in a correctional facility is severe. A conviction could result in a sentence of between three and 15 years imprisonment, as well as a fine up to $25,000. Advocates such as Leonard say that the video and photos confirm the social and living conditions outsiders have heard about. From black mold in dirty showers and a lack programming for prisoners, these are just a few of the many reasons they were convicted. More than 2,000 images showing scenes of violence and blood in Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility were leaked to media earlier this year. This prison was one of those cited by the DOJ report. Mississippi is currently facing a lawsuit regarding conditions at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is privately owned and located near Meridian.