Sunday, May 31, 2015

Updated post: Sheriff says MDOC is not telling the truth. Why did MDOC place killers in work center?

Sheriff Tyrone Lewis addresses media
Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis called out MDOC for placing inmates convicted of violent crimes in the Hinds County Work Center at a press conference held Friday.  He said that such placement violated state law.  A firestorm of controversy erupted Thursday after MDOC Commissioner Marshall Fisher removed convicted murderer Jerry Mack from the work center Thursday. Commissioner Fisher said he was allowed to repeatedly leave the facility, had $435 and a driver's license, and was unsupervised. The Commissioner also removed 41 inmates from the work center last week claimed he removed them due to a Justice Department report that said the jail was not safe. However, the report stated that the Justice Department did not review the work center but instead reviewed only the detention centers in Raymond and downtown Jackson. Sheriff Lewis said MDOC was not telling "the truth" about the inmates or Mack.




The Sheriff said that MDOC classified Mack and the two other violent criminals, Matthew Winters (homicides) and Fred Mack (aggravated assault) as trustees. He said that MDOC is responsible for classifying prisoners and that state law mandates that all trustees are given the same rights and privileges. He said that the Sheriff's office has no control over the placement of the inmates and that  MDOC placed these violent criminals in the county work center. Thus a convicted killer who is classified as a trustee is to be treated the same as a convicted embezzler or drunk driver at the community work center.



Commissioner Fisher scheduled the removal of all MDOC prisoners from the work center to take place on August 1 but instead removed them last week.  His office stated that the unsafe conditions cited in the Justice Department report on the jail was the reason for the early withdrawal.



However, Sheriff Lewis accused him of retaliating against the Sheriff's office after Sheriff Lewis and other Mississippi Sheriffs challenged the Commissioner's decision to remove all inmates from county work centers.  He said that the report did not review the county work center and that Commissioner Fisher was "not telling the truth" and playing politics.  He said that all 41 inmates were housed at the work center and not the detention centers in Raymond and Jackson.  He cited this section of the report in support of his response:

The Sheriff's Department also operates a Work Release Center next to the Raymond Facility. We did not specifically review conditions at the Work Release Center, because it is a distinct and separate minimum-security, state-county operation. However, as we will detail later in this letter, the manner in which the Work Release Center fits into the County detention system has an indirect impact on conditions in the other two facilities. To that extent, we address the relationship and its implications for remedying unconstitutional Jail conditions.

Sheriff Lewis provided copies of the report to all members of the  media present and said he welcomed any investigation and would cooperate.  Sheriff Lewis then said the placement of Mack, Winters, and others in the work center violated state law.  The Mississippi Code states:

 § 47-5-451. Joint state-county work programs; eligibility; limitations
 (2) An inmate shall not be eligible to participate in a work program established in accordance with the provisions of Sections 47-5-401 through 47-5-421, if he has been convicted of any crime of violence, including, but not limited to, murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery or armed robbery.

The code also requires the counties to adopt all MDOC regulations for the work centers: 

§ 47-5-453. Adoption of regulations and policies
Each county board of supervisors electing to establish a work program under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469 shall adopt regulations and policies as authorized by the Department of Corrections for joint state-county work programs, including extending the limits of the place of confinement of an eligible inmate as to whom there is reasonable cause to believe he will know his trust. Extending the limits of the place of confinement may include confinement at the residence of the subject inmate wherein the primary maintenance and care of the inmate shall take place, subject to approval by the department and county.

   Violations by inmates participating in such programs of any such rules, regulations or policies shall result in the ineligibility of the inmates to participate in such programs, and shall result in the inmate's immediate incarceration.

The Commissioner is also given the authority to approve 72-hour passes:

 § 47-5-463. Passes and leaves*
 The Commissioner of Corrections may institute a procedure for granting passes and leaves to inmates participating under Sections 47-5-451 through 47-5-469, and may grant such passes or leaves in deserving cases, not to exceed three (3) days or seventy-two (72) hours.
  MDOC's website states that violent criminals are not supposed to be housed in community work centers:

What kinds of inmates are housed at Community Work Centers and work in the community?  Inmates housed at Community Work Centers are incarcerated for non-violent crimes.

Another page on the website states:

Click on photo to enlarge





Kingfish note: If interested, here is more information about The Winters case.  Actually, Winters is an interesting story that starts back in the early 60's. There is more information written about his multiple homicides in Google books. Start on page 90.    The first question that came to mind when reading the MDOC press release Thursday was "why was a convicted killer placed at the county work center instead of the penitentiary?" 

*JJ will also obtain and post a copy of the regulations and procedures regarding passes.. 

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was Jerry Mitchell there KF?

I See Clearly said...

What do you expect. The spotlight is on this ineffective manager and it's natural for him to deny and accuse people of persecution. Next, charges of racism and Sharpton arrives.

Anonymous said...

When has MDOC been shown up to have committed perjury on the stand?

Anonymous said...

When someone says "uh" so many times that I begin counting them, their argument is irrelevant.

Anonymous said...

Why was he in jail and not state custody in the first place? I always understood that only happened with the sheriff's approval.

Anonymous said...

Just when you think Tyrone cannot make himself look anymore incompetent he manages to make it happen.

Anonymous said...

Got to admit that at least they made him buy his own horse. Last time this happened, somebody was buying the trustees brand new cars.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, 9:31. Maybe you will tell us.

Support Your Local Sheriff said...

Like the city councilman in Clarksdale (featured in a video elsewhere on this blog), Tyromes will be reelected and reelected, ad infinitum. This is the sort of management model people seem to want. Long as I got me a barrel grill and a Tyrome yard sign out front under the tree I be good to go.

Anonymous said...

ya'll be nice. Tyrone is the only law enforcement left that will talk to JJ on a regular basis. Don't spoil it by commenting on how inept our sheriff is in all aspects of being the head law enforcement officer of the county.

Anonymous said...

Tyrone is the only law enforcement left that will talk to JJ on a regular basis.

Right. Nobody in any medium in the metro is covering the justice system from arrest to sentencing and everything in-between like the coverage provided here at Jackson Jambalaya and that is because Kingfish has burned so many bridges in the law enforcement community that only Lewis is left who will talk to him.

Get a bucket-full of clues dude because just finding even one will not be nearly enough for you.

Anonymous said...

The original arrangements for Mack were conducted by McMillin and Epps. But y'all go ahead and look right past that. Especially you Larry. By the way, who hired Shannon Brumfield?

Been There said...

I do enjoy this BlogSpot. JJ does a good job on the things that interest him. Working Together...Getting Results is the message Tyrone paid JJ for in his advertisement to the right of the page.In all honesty,most of of us know what has and is going on,and will continue to go on,as long as the City of of Jackson remains under the control of the majority of voters within the City. JJ will collect his money for the advertisements,have plenty of things to blog about,ya'll will continue to bitch and moan,and the same shit will go on and get worse.It is inevitable.I truly wonder how much the bag boy paid JJ for the moving bell.It is all about money and very few people have the balls or ect. to give a s..t about really wanting to step up and cause change to happen.Truth be told. I was an Adult living in NE Jackson during the '79 flood and saw men and women of all ages and colors come together to restore this City after a monumental disaster. It is difficult to ever see this attitude being a reality again under any circumstances now. Thank you JJ for allowing me to Comment.

Anonymous said...

The job of sheriff is too big for Tyrone to handle. The same can be said about Smith and the DA office. Don't know them personally but they are probably nice guys . I believe they have tried to grasp these jobs but they are just not able to get the job done. Blaming others for their own shortcomings is not the mark of s true leader. It is time to move on. Thank those two for the job they have done but elect others who can get the jobs done.

BTW, I would like s county vehicle to ride around and take care of personal business in.

Anonymous said...

What's done is done. Lewis knows there's a problem and it's gone on for decades. The DOJ is taking charge and Tyrone and MDOC know it. Fun time at the resorts are over.

Support Your Local Sherrif said...

I guess I'm lost. Who are Larry and Shannon Brumfield? Don't be so damned obtuse when you post.

I'm also lost as to why spell out the word shit one time and three lines later spells it s..t. What a goob. Carry on.

Saltwaterpappy said...

I'm just thankful that I was able to escape Hiraq and Jackanistan in 1980!

Anonymous said...

Yup, you are lost 1:58 PM. Clueless and lost.

Support Your Local Lost Poster said...

But not quite as lost as you, 6:10. You have no idea either and don't even know you have no idea. Now THAT is LOST!

Kingfish said...

" Tyrone is the only law enforcement left that will talk to JJ on a regular basis"

Oh really.

That is actually pretty damn funny. Keep thinking that is true. Please.

Anonymous said...

"Sheriff Lewis provided copies of the report to all members of the media present" Only Jessica Bowman with WLBT (father-in-law works for Tyrone Lewis) and Kingfish were present. Why were no other media invited?

Kingfish said...

Good question. He did one on one interviews with the media. I just happened to be present with Jessica. WJTV appeared after Jessica, then a sports guy from WAPT appeared while I was there. Jerry Mitchell came later.

Mitchell Is A Red Headed Racist said...

Did Jerry Mitchell take notes or just leave when he realized there was no mysterious death of a black man forty years earlier at the jail?

Anonymous said...

I love when unknown people blast people for making money. Hey, 9:39, Kingfish has ads up on his website, wow. Hey, I am pretty sure every newspaper, magazine, and tv news shows in the history of the medium has had ads also. I guess you work for free and depend on the kindness of strangers. Grow up. At least kingfish is covering local events. Why do you read the website if there is a conflict of interest? You read it, the same as I do, because it is the best source for metro news.

Look, Jackson is like Little Rock, New Orleans, Detroit, Baltimore, etc. The "haves" are moving out of the city to the suburbs. Without a tax base, education goes down, and then no new business. That is the natural order of events. No sheriff or DA can stop this. Of course, Jackson has accelerated its own demise by the private academies of Jackson Prep and Jackson Academy. Without the "haves" in the school system, you lose the standard bearers. There are two ways Jackson can recover, everyone move out to the burbs and a big developer purchase acres of property. We are not near this. Or the burbs realize that the city's problems will be theirs shortly. So you create a metro government to provide Jackson some new taxes to address their shortfall, but they have to comply with the suburbs requirements. Don't look now, but that is exactly what is happening with the Jackson Sale Tax Commission.

Anonymous said...

I'm about tired of reading all about this 'Private School' problem from people that can't find their backside with either hand. Get a Clue there Sporto! While I may pay over and above for a private school, I STILL CAN'T A TAX BREAK! So I STILL PAY FOR THE PUBLIC EDUCATION! If anything, there should be even more money in the Education system covering less students! The tax system still TAKES my money, yet I don't get anything for it, only the kids still in that system do! Hate to bore you with FACTS, those darn pesky things!

I Voted with my dollars, yet they take my tax money anyway...and still claim being broke and produce a substandard product!

Anonymous said...

There are, at least 2 more people who have qualified to run for the position of High Sheriff of Hinds County, or will they re-elect 'ol Ty?
(Still can't believe Tyrone hasn't thrown anymore parties at the Jackson Police Training Academy)

Anonymous said...

I wonder why Lewis had no idea why these inmates were being housed in his jail? Whoever requested them, housed them there, drove them there or delivered them by magic carpet ride....It is his job as the chief law enforcement officer of Hinds County to know who he is housing, why he is housing them and if they have been held by him for too long. State Statute mandates that. If they have been there since the prior administration why didn't Lewis know it, realize they should not be there and contact MDOC to remove them. It is obvious that he has given his best but the whole job is above his head. I just hope the MDOC will file charges where charges are due in this matter.

Anonymous said...

Hey 5:56,
This is why I love this site. Let me help you out. First, I also went to private school. Soooo I understand what it does to a community. Second, YOU CAN GIVE A DYING COMMUNITY A MILLION DOLLARS AND IT WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING. What I was talking about was that the "haves" like you, are taking out of the school system accountability, ambition, and hard work. It is not money; it is effort, i.e, the ability you have gained to send your kids to private school, collectively is greater than any amount of money. The private school kids at prep and JA, if they all stayed in a public school in Jackson, (I understand this would be decades ago) then you would have one powerhouse public school, like madison central or northwest rankin or tupelo, or biloxi, because of ......hang on.....people like you. If you didn't have an alternative, you would complain about teachers, curriculum, test scores, etc. Your kids would push the bar higher. This public school would be an example and standard bearer for others in sports and ambition etc for the other schools in Jackson. Now, would this fix everything? of course not. It would be a school that could be used to attract businesses to Jackson, or do you think companies don't worry about a good public school system? Do you think schools like Oxford that have supplemental pay established by their parents don't matter? Do you think your kids couldn't set an example for others? You be a good example for other parents? So go ahead and disagree, but what you are really saying is that your only meaningful contribution to your society and your community is your paycheck. Sorry to tell you, but it is not.

Anonymous said...

After reading the link you provided to The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills.. the author states that Matthew Winter was interviewed at the County Farm in 2013 by the author. The author stated that MDOC denied a request to interview Winter earlier. So, did the Lewis administration violate MDOC policy by letting a author interview a state inmate against MDOC policy? Or is it customary for the Lewis administration to let authors interview any inmate? Lewis cant have it both ways.

Failure To Communicate said...

10:36; Turn your cap around Dude. You are completely wrong. Do you really believe if the JA and Prep kids had stayed at JPS decades ago, we 'would have one powerhouse school'? Wrong, Dude. What we would have is one watered down, dumbed down, cesspool of mediocrity where there was no excellence, no setting of a higher bar and nothing but mediocrity and average. Or less.

You can NOT take motivated, high functioning and goal-setting students and dump them into the cesspool of ignorance, mediocrity and bad behavior and expect anything else.

Anonymous said...

Failure to Educate,
11:03, That is Dr. Dude to you, because trust me I have earned it. Yes, I believe that if you take 10 to 20% of the "haves" and deposit them into another environment, the environment will improve while the "haves" will come down. It is simply fact. If you take the top ten percent of Harvard, Yale or Stanford, and transferred their ability, work ethic and family connections to Ole Miss or State, Ole Miss and State would go up over time. Here is an interesting history lesson, the downfall of every great society, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Romans, etc., etc., the have nots did not become uneducated or sought welfare. A percentage of "have-nots" always want that. It is when the "haves" get fat and entitled. It is when the "haves" do not maintain control of standards to protect their wealth. It is when the "haves" don't work. You keep saying there is nothing you can do to help Jackson, because brother, they ain't saying that in China. You and your family are not competing with Murrah and Forrest Hill. You are competing with BRIC. You are competing with Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. So while you need to think about the Microeconomics of the matter, ie your children and their specific education, your lack of vision on the macro is going to destroy your children. Do you know how much of a burden it is not to be able to work in your home area? Do you know what any college degree from Miss. is worth in NY or DC? I have to go operate on someone and save a life. Dr. Dude out.

Failure To Communicate said...

Doctor Dolittle: Please allow me to kneel and pay proper respect. But, your 'facts' are totally unsupported. You can cite no evidence that Ole Miss or State, suddenly blessed with the Harvard or Yale elite would change one iota.

If you are counting on the simple, mathmatical law of averages to back you up, your post is weak at best. Naturally, though, if you have a group of numbers, all being nine, the average of them will be (drumroll) nine. But, if you have add sixteen numbers 20, the average goes up. That's how averages work. Surely you knew that, though, being a doctor and all.

There is a school system up in Leake County that four years ago, in response to Justice Department edicts, consolidated and started shipping whites and blacks to opposite buildings due only to race. The result was a total dumbing down of the entire district. Whites did NOTHING to improve the scores of blacks. The quality of teachers, thus the lowering of standards and expectations, did manage to water down the 'melting pot'.

You know nothing about my family or my view of the macro. You're simply a victim of your own deluded and irrational rhetoric. But you like the sound of it, don't you?

I have no clue what kind of 'doctor' you are but if you're an MD, please let us know your name so we can avoid your practice. And if you're a PhD, well, then you make perfect sense to yourself.

Anonymous said...

If every student in every private or parochial school in Jackson and Flowood were in JPS, JPS would be 13% white. Yes. 13%. The school would suck 8:36. Suck. Keep dreaming.

Anonymous said...

" Do you know what any college degree from Miss. is worth in NY or DC?"

Enough to earn a full ride at the highest rated medical school in the country (hint: not in NY or DC).

Don't recall seeing you there though.

Recognizes Failed Logic said...

The 'doctor' @ 8:36 (who had to leave us and go save a life) uses the exact, precise, identical logic that suggests if more whites would just move to downtown Jackson, crime would decrease or sorta 'average out'.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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