MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For most of us, the only thing we know about life behind prison walls is what we see in movies such as Shawshank Redemption. And the fact is, most of us don’t care about prison life because we think it doesn’t affect us.
But it does – if not directly, then financially, because taxpayer dollars in the millions are used to operate state prisons. All of which make what’s been happening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman so troubling.
A report released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice outlines a host of problems at the Delta prison that has long been infamous for violence and official mistreatment. The report found deliberate indifference on the part of prison officials and the state as a whole to conditions inside those walls. Those conditions are severe and systemic, and they violate the constitutional rights of inmates who are still entitled to equal protection without cruel and unusual punishment.
Again, this should come as no surprise. Now, it is up to political leaders in Mississippi – from the governor on down – to commit once and for all to improving prison conditions.
Just because these inmates are out of sight, doesn’t mean they should be out of mind. Despite their criminal history, they deserve to be protected behind bars. This is not the movies - this is real life. And the state has a duty to act.