The Mississippi Department of Corrections issued the following statement:
Power crews are on site at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman as MDOC works actively to address the issues caused by the weather.Meanwhile, Marshall County Correctional Facility is fully operational, reporting no problems.
The Mississippi Department of Corruption Facebook page told a slightly different story. It's social media so take it for what it's worth:
Mississippi State Penitentiary is currently without power. This is not isolated to one building or one housing unit, it is a widespread failure impacting the entire facility.As a result:• Heat is unavailable during dangerous winter conditions• Food is not being served• Medical call is not being conducted• Security, lighting, and emergency systems are compromised• Emergency generators have not been activated or are not functioningIn Unit 29, men have not been fed since approximately 7:00 PM last night. Despite repeated attempts to get staff attention, there has been no response.Prisons are required to have operational emergency generators for situations exactly like this. When most of a maximum-security prison is left without power, the failure to deploy emergency power is not an accident, it is a catastrophic breakdown of preparedness and leadership.If generators exist and were not turned on, that is a deliberate failure to act. If generators are inoperable, that is a failure of maintenance, budgeting, and oversight. Either scenario places lives at risk, and MDOC is responsible.A power outage does not excuse:• Withholding food• Leaving people without heat• Denying access to medical care• Ignoring emergency protocolsThe Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Allowing widespread power loss to result in hunger, cold exposure, and medical neglect is a constitutional violation.This is not one unit and not an isolated failure. What is happening right now is systemic neglect, and it places lives at risk. Silence and inaction are choices, and those choices carry responsibility. An independent outside investigation must be initiated into MSP’s emergency preparedness.CALL AND DEMAND ACTION!
Mississippi Today reported:
“At Parchman, we had a limb fall on a line,” Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain told Mississippi Today on Sunday afternoon. “The power is coming back on.”
He said during the afternoon that Entergy workers spent about three hours fixing the problem, but during another call later in the day, Cain said the crew had continued its work. That brought the work to about six hours and delayed the full restoration of power beyond what Cain had originally said.
Parchman is in rural Sunflower County near Tutwiler and has about 1,900 inmates. Delta Correctional is in Greenwood and houses about 300 women. Both are in areas that received snow and ice.
Generators were supplying power Sunday at Delta Correctional, Cain said. “The only place we’ve had a problem is at Parchman.”
“I just had a mama tell me that the inmates were banging on the wall all night, that they were cold and hungry,” Cain said. “All that’s bullshit.”
Inmates had sack lunches Sunday, Cain said, “and we should be able to cook supper. We have water and everything.” Article
2 comments:
The delta was hit hard. We got lucky. I think about 180k in the state were without power at one time. For info by county go to poweroutage.us but some small utilities are not tracked.
Don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime.
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