The U.S. Department of Justice has released a scathing, 59-page report that states Mississippi routinely violates the rights of incarcerated persons at Mississippi State Penitentiary At Parchman. It fails to provide adequate mental health treatment or stop violence, particularly for those in suicide watch and solitary confinement. These conditions are the result of decades of “deliberate neglect” by the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The report calls for top-down improvement. The report makes over 80 recommendations to MDOC for Parchman, including structural changes like offering competitive salaries to staff and more programming to incarcerated persons. It also recommends smaller fixes such as identifying all broken or jammed locks. According to the report, the U.S. attorney General may file a lawsuit under Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act against MDOC if MDOC fails to implement the recommendations within the next 49 days. The New York Times reported, however, that the DOJ would likely collaborate with MDOC to address issues in the report. MDOC declined comment. Parchman has been plagued for years by violence and unsanitary living conditions. The report details a Department of Corrections that lacks the ability to address the prison’s systemic problems. Ron Welch is a prisoner rights attorney who said that Parchman’s conditions are ultimately the responsibility of the governor and legislators who have long underfunded the prison system. Welch stated that Parchman’s problems grew in 2014 after MDOC’s budget was cut by lawmakers. Welch stated that the DOJ’s report is “long, it’s long and it’s detailed. But the bottom line, the Department of Corrections cannot do anything without money.” After a series of violent incidents in state facilities over several weeks, the DOJ began its investigation in February 2020. Violence broke out at Unit 29, resulting in the deaths or injuries of several people incarcerated in Parchman. According to the report, MDOC knew of “widespread concerns” about unlivable conditions, suicides increases, and mounting fears that gangs were filling the gap left by insufficient staff. This “authority vacuum” was then filled by gang members. Parchman guards are supposed to conduct head counts at housing units once a month, but they rarely interact with inmates on a daily basis. Guards fear for safety. However, the Parchman report states that MDOC doesn’t provide officers with “personnel security emergency alarms” to alert for help when needed. This means that guards don’t see or can’t stop assaults. One incarcerated man was described as having to set fire to his cell in order to get guards’ attention after being stabbed. Mentally ill prisoners are also affected by the lack of staff. Three part-time nurses practitioners manage a caseload of more than 200 people per week. This is higher than the American Psychiatric Association recommended ratio for prison settings. They cannot provide individual therapy or trauma-informed treatment for people with post-traumatic stress disorder. Parchman’s mental staff does not hold “formal or periodic treatment planning meetings” nor keep detailed records about incarcerated persons’ mental health histories. The report states that treatment goals are simply copied and pasted to the next treatment plan, without documentation detailing progress made by the clinician or incarcerated person. The report revealed that staff seem to over-rely upon diagnosing people in prison with substance-induced disorders or antisocial personality disorder. The report states that Parchman has a high rate of such diagnoses. Future providers will likely dismiss legitimate mental health concerns once these diagnoses have been used. Parchman also kept hundreds of people in solitary confinement, with “decrepit conditions,” such as crumbling ceilings and showers that don’t heat water. Parchman holds solitary confinement prisoners for an average of 515 days, sometimes even for years. MDOC held one person in solitary confinement since his September 2001 arrival at Parchman. The report states that unit supervisors told the officer not to turn down the heat when the officer asked. Governor. Tate Reeves stated that he was starting the process to close Unit 29 of the facility. Burl Cain, who previously managed Angola Prison, Louisiana, was also named as his commissioner. Cain stated that he would improve conditions in Parchman prison and other MDOC prisons. Cain is currently participating in a “gang swap program” with Colorado, and other states to reduce violence at Parchman. In its report, the DOJ stated that this plan was not comprehensive. “While it may have some limited impact, it is far from a comprehensive strategy. A gang leader who is transferred to an out-of state correctional facility will be replaced by a new leader quickly.