Mississippi COVID-19 Timeline

Mississippi’s Prison Crisis from Parchman to COVID-19A Timeline of Tragedy without Action

The Mississippi Department of Corrections has historically grappled with severe conditions of confinement failures further flamed by staffing shortages, yearly budget cuts, and a large and rising prison population—all of which have left the Department incapable of safely housing the over 17,000 people within its custody. An unprecedented spate of deaths followed by a series of lawsuits, central leadership turnover, and now the COVID-19 crisis demand action from the governor to immediately reduce the state’s dangerously high prison population and ensure the health and safety of the people incarcerated in Mississippi prisons. The timeline below details the dramatic and escalating series of events that has gripped MDOC and the people in its custody since December 2019. However, the governor and Department leaders have done little to address these crises at a time when decisive action is desperately needed.

December 29, 2019
Chaos Erupts at Parchman
December 29, 2019

As of November 2020, the Mississippi Department of Corrections has confirmed at least 871 positive COVID-19 cases within Department custody and privately operated prisons across the state. To date, no actions have been taken by the Governor or Department of Corrections to release people from prisons to slow the spread of coronavirus in prisons and in the community.

Sources

1. Calculated using the Mississippi Department of Corrections Monthly Fact Sheet as of February 3, 2020, including the custody population plus “other custody,” “at large custody” and “hospital/medical” groups and  the U.S. Census Bureau estimate of Mississippi's 2019 population. This excludes individuals on house arrest or ISP.

2. Calculated using the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Weekly Count total inside custody population on February 3, 2020 and the U.S. Census Bureau estimate of Oklahoma’s 2019 population. This excludes the county jail back-up and individuals housed outside of facilities or on GPS.