The Raymond Detention Center earned another federal contempt of court citation against the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves said Hinds County has not squared away the jail despite being under a consent decree since 2016. Judge Reeves said he will determine "an appropriate sanction for that contempt."
JJ reported on February 7:
Hinds County entered into a consent decree over the detention center in 2016. Judge Reeves said for all of its so-called efforts, Hinds County is currently violating more than "two dozen provisions" of the consent decree.
Judge Reeves issued a show cause order against Hinds County on November 23 - the day of the runoff election for Sheriff. He gave Hinds County 21 days to explain why he should not place the jail into receivership.
The Court noted the jail was born of the original sin of incompetent design and construction when it opened in 1994. Locks were not powerful enough to keep doors locked. Inmates repeatedly started fires in the facility yet there was no fire sprinkler system. Riots plagued the jail for years. Judge Reeves observed the facility was woefully understaffed at only 229 employees. Drugs, smartphones, and other contraband continue to increase at Raymond. The Court said inmates ran the jail as guards all too often left them unsupervised. Earlier post with more information.
Such conditions existed for many years, yea, even decades at the Raymond Detention Center. However, Judge Reeves said "the situation deteriorated significantly in 2021. " Six deaths in 2021 finally broke the Court's back. Suicides, overdoses, medical issues, and Covid-19 were responsible for five of the deaths. However, the sixth death (in October) drew particular attention from the Court due to its gruesome nature.
Inmates beat that inmate to death. Detention officers did not discover the deceased state of the inmate for another nine hours. Judge Reeves made several findings in his contempt order today:
* Gang committees rule the jail in a reign of terror. The committees "coordinate attacks on unwelcome detainees." The committees determine who can live in their pods while the guards comply with the new living arrangements. The gang committees also determine who does and does not eat as the guards have "delegated" some duties to the committees. Judge Reeves said this illegal state of affairs was caused by the housing of detainees by their gang affiliations. in violation of the consent decree.
* Violence reigns in Raymond as 77 assaults were reported between October and January. Detainees are returned to the same housing unit where they suffered assaults. Judge Reeves said many assaults go unreported because of sloppy record-keeping and a lack of monitoring at night. The Court said it "has the very real sense that we have not begun to grasp the extent of violence detainees are subject to at RDC."
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* How does one monitor a jail if guards refuse to work in the jail? They repeatedly refuse to show up for work or call in sick because they are afraid to work in a pod. A monitor testified:
After visiting that area, talking about A-Pod Unit 1, it was clear why some female staff were apprehensive about entering the unit. This was the only unit I did not enter because I did not feel comfortable doing so even though I had male staff accompanying me. A few of the detainees made lewd and crude remarks and gen- erally acted out. My visit to this unit ended abruptly.
The staffing picture at the Raymond jail is bleaker than ever:
Current staffing numbers are the lowest they have ever been. Turnover is significant. Even basic recommendations to increase retention, such as instituting bi-weekly pay rather than monthly pay, and providing direct de- posit, have been rejected. Despite spending nearly six years under the Consent Decree, the County appears unwilling or unable to abide by its requirements.* The cell doors still don't lock almost thirty years after the jail was built. A Benchmark Construction employee testified "the cell doors in A-Pod still do not work."
* Lights? Who needs lights? Most inmates live in the dark and guards must "use flashlights" to find their way through the jail.
* Fire! Fire! Fire! No, this is not a Beavis & Butthead recitation but Judge Reeves' fury over repeated fire outbreaks at the jail. A-Pod lacks fire hoses and extinguishers.
* Tired of trash talk? Too bad. The inmates continue to damage cells. Instead of fixing the cells, Hinds County welds them shut. The inmates dump trash into the ad-hoc dumpsters as they seldom waste an opportunity to well, trash something in the jail. There was testimony at the February hearing that thirty such cells remain welded shut and of course, filled with trash.
* Most of the showers in Pod A do not work. Detainees lack chairs or tables for eating. Inmates regularly access the roof, often returning with contraband.
Such are the findings as the Court made it clear it does not believe any claims made by Hinds County. Although Sheriff Tyree Jones operates the jail, Hinds County is responsible for the maintenance. Judge Reeves said the Board of Supervisors did not comply with the decree and is in civil contempt of court. The Court will determine sanctions at a later date.
38 comments:
Hopefully Judge Reeves drops the hammer on the jail administration, otherwise it is just rewarding bad behavior.
“ The gang committees also determine who does and does not eat as the guards have "delegated" some duties to the committees.”
Wait, what? Seriously? How does someone not get arrested for not feeding inmates or for letting gangs determine which prisoners get food? I’m all for being tough on prisoners but this isn’t right.
Honest question here: Is there anything that the City of Jackson or Hinds County can operate correctly? If so, name one. And I’m talking about Jackson City government or Hinds County government. Name one thing.
I am absolutely shocked in disbelief that the current regime in Hinds County isn’t capable of functioning to any First World standards!
The inmates are in fact running the asylum.
So…if Judge Reeves does rule with an “iron fist” in this matter….what would the county of Hinds be dealt that they couldn’t simply ignore?
If Judge Reeves locked up the jail administrator, the sheriff, and all members of the Board of Supervisors things would shape up yesterday.
I too, hold Hinds in contempt over the jail
The Raymond Detention Center earned another federal contempt of court citation against the Hinds County Board of Supervisors... Judge Reeves said he will determine "an appropriate sanction for that contempt."
So, more financial penalties will be assessed against the few remaining responsible citizens who actually pay these exorbitant taxes and fees in a county that offers little to nothing in return.
NO ONE in administration or elected office gives a flying crap about "appropriate sanctions" until they involve criminal charges. They've slurped up way more in graft and corruption than they will ever have to pay.
The "new" proposed Hinds County jail will be just like the "old" Hinds County jail, but even worse. The same old race hustlers and crooks (along with a few new ones) will take all the money and leave a steaming pile of crap that isn't fit for use from the very day it opens. And no one cares as long as the "right" people GET PAID. It's fucking pathetic.
Nothing will improve without federal or state control.
Serious question: Why was the jail not built up to standards? Is there not some sort of inspection at the end of construction? Does the construction company not have some responsibility to make it right? Or was this all a “buddy” contract that lined someone’s pocket?
I thought the county would get straightened out when they hired Kenny Wayne Jones. He’s very qualified. I assumed he would solve the problems and streamline everything.
Hopefully everyone can read my sarcasm above. Seriously, they hired Kenny Wayne. What does that tell you? The county board of supervisors couldn’t run a lemonade stand,
7:58…a very large bill payable to Uncle Sam. The Feds are taking it over. They will either move the prisoners elsewhere or hire the appropriate staff to run RDC. All costs will be borne by the county.
There are 82 counties in the State of Mississippi. Just say there are 400 inmates in the HCJ jail. Divide 400 by 82, you could send at least 5 inmates to each county in the State of Mississippi or 10 inmates to 42 counties and so on.
Keep the inmates closer to their court dates closer to Hinds county!
Judge Reeves the County Officials in Hinds County can’t handle simple tasks!
Move all inmates out until the problems are fixed!!!
No one can work in that environment!
Judge Reeves they are playing you. It’s time to take action.
You can also move all inmates within 50 miles to a facility where the Officers are not scared to do their jobs and won’t let the inmates destroy the facilities.
This will also deter future criminals that can’t make it honest on the in the real world.
Judge close that shit hole down!
A federal judge finds as a matter of fact the gang committees run the county jail, yet the mayor of Jackson still does not recognize that the city has a gang problem. It’s so bad that gang members are housed together according to their gang affiliation.
At the county level, isn’t Credell Calhoun, the president of the Board of Supervisors, the one who got called out for micromanaging inmate housing?
As an outsider looking in, it looks to me like there is an alliance of some sort between the gangs and the local governments.
8:51 As to your questions.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hell Yes!
Right on, 9:52. Take 405 lepers out of the leper colony and put 5 in each of 81 other facilities. Then you can hose down the original structure that housed the colony, give it a facelift and some lipstick and have a ribbon cutting with a flyover arranged by the Jackson Airport Commission.
Time to get some buses rolling and re-gather the original problem-children.
But then, instead of 5 lepers at each of the 81 other facilities, for your original total of 405, you now have 30 at each facility for a total of 2430. (Side note: Leprosy spreads)
All you've done is kick an ant-bed and piss off your 81 neighbors. Well...plus you have jail staff in all the other counties who quit their jobs. But that's their problem.
A quicker, better, simpler solution is for Judge Reeves to have federal marshals pick up each Hinds County Supervisor and bring him to the Judge's bench. Invite the media. Reeves would then ask each supervisor why he should not be held in personal contempt of the federal court's orders. Have orange jumpsuits at the ready.
Four years to order a contempt ruling.
Jeez - Reeves is already rewarding bad behavior! Mississippi knows that the judges are lazy and slack to actually do anything....so they wait it out. Then cry to the feds for more money. It's all Mississippi knows how to do. Only the little people are ever held accountable....One would think government officials would be held to a higher standard, but government work in Mississippi is the safest place to get away with anything.
Women are NOT meant to be prison guards in a man's prison. It will never work. I am not being sexist. Just a realist.
So let the Fed's take it over. Perhaps we could talk them into taking over the entire county including Jackson.
At least Kenny Wayne beat the crap out of David Archie.
@9:52 PM - I fixed it for you. "Judge Reeves the SIMPLE County Officials in Hinds County can’t handle simple tasks!"
Leave the 'gang committees' in a ditch.
Appoint the damn receiver, Reeves. Put up or shut up.
7:31 : Corruption and theft. That's two.
Criminal gangs running the jai? What’s the Final Solution?
6:12, that sounds all tough guy and all, but the buck ends with the sheriff. The BOS can’t make the sheriff do anything. All they do is alot his budget. All the way back to Mac, the BOS increased the budget to help recruit and retain jailers and the sheriff turned right around and gave raises to political buddies and cronies. And there was nothing the BOS could do about it under state law. The sheriff in every county has more political swing than any supervisor. That’s just how it is set up.
The supervisors who should be jailed are the ones who built that pos
Stokes & Graham cut the Sheriff's budget by several million dollars. The funding was never fully restored.
You say the buck stops with the Sheriff. It is the Supes who are responsible for the maintenance.
9:34 : The BOS for kickbacks HIRED that "POS" who built the jail. And yes, I agree whoever was on that board, the ones alive should be jailed. The last sheriff with any true power was Mac. I imagine Mr. Vance was gonna be strong but he was blood clotted by the Vax Ass Fauci.
What punishment do the BOS members face? If the answer is "none," then Reeves is just wasting time. If the jail goes under receivership, the BOS will be happy - "not my problem anymore!"
We have a problem that's being exposed in both the city and county. If the elected officials fail to do their jobs, there is no recourse, no punishment.
Yes, they cut it, only after the previous board raised the budget and Mac looted the money. I'm pretty sure the county has spent millions on maintenance and repair of the jail. The Feds should have taken it long ago.
9:55 : And no one in the county smart enough to vote them out. Vern beat Mike. HTF does that happen ? Amazing what a 10 spot will get you these days I guess. And you folks ain't seen the real shit show coming in the very near future.
10:37 :talked him into it ? Never took him for a sucker but if that's the deal then that's the deal. At least he got the roads paved .
Use the FOIA to see what Congressman was behind the building of RDC and you will understand completely as there is one currently residing in Hinds County that should have to pay out of his pocket himself
Wasn't the original contractor a "friend of Bennie?"
I hope the Federal Judge drops the hammer. Even back to when RDC was originally built- it never met Standards at all. It's always been short of Standards & ALWAYS will be. Maybe the Chairman of the Homelands Security Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives members something about this- There are Architects who know how to design-there are Contractors who know how to Build these facilities to Operate properly. Another County not far from Hinds has this same problem- just to a lesser extent.
Yeah, put all the supervisors from the 80s in jail. Put the hammer down.
Go dig up Mac and Victor. Their corpse can be subpoenaed by a federal judge. Internet said so. And go get Anderson while you are at it.
"Another County not far from Hinds has this same problem- just to a lesser extent. March 24, 2022 at 6:42 PM"
Cite any evidence you have of 'another county' having the same or similar problems with sprinkler systems, doors that won't lock, cells welded shut, cells filled with trash, jailers using flashlights due to lack of proper lighting, inmates accessing the roof and determining who gets to eat or is housed where.
Put up or...well, you know.
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