NCJ Number
57767
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1979) Pages: 4-13
Date Published
1979
Length
16 pages
Annotation
THE HISTORY OF 'CRUEL AND UNUSUAL' INCARCERATION OF OFFENDERS AT MISSISSIPPI'S NOTORIOUS PARCHMAN PENITENTARY IS RECOUNTED AND CONTRASTED WITH THE SIGNIFICANT REFORM THAT FOLLOWED A 1972 COURT DECISION IN GATES V. COLLIER.
Abstract
THE PARCHMAN FACILITY, WHICH EVENTUALLY GREW TO INCORPORATE SEVERAL LABOR CAMPS AND A BRUTAL MAXIMUM SECURITY CONTAINMENT SPREAD ACROSS 22,000 ACRES OF A FORMER COTTON PLANTATION, WAS FOUNDED AFTER SHERMAN'S TROOPS BURNED THE STATE'S ONLY PRISON DURING THE CIVIL WAR. AT FIRST, PRISONERS WERE SHIPPED TO PARCHMAN, ONLY TO BE RENTED OUT TO LOCAL COTTON FARMERS WHO STARVED, BRUTALIZED, AND OFTEN MURDERED THE LARGELY BLACK INMATES PUT IN THEIR CHARGE. AFTER MUCH PUBLIC OUTCRY OVER THE RENTING OF INMATES, THE STATE STOPPED THE PRACTICE, TURNING THE LABOR INSTEAD TO GROWING COTTON AND SOYBEANS ON PARCHMAN'S OWN VAST ACREAGE. HOWEVER, BRUTAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT PARCHMAN; THE INMATE LABORERS WERE VARIOUSLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY BEATEN, STARVED, OVERWORKED, AND SOMETIMES MURDERED BY BOTH GUARDS AND ARMED INMATE TRUSTEES. IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1972, WHEN A NEW YORK CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER FILED SUIT ON BEHALF OF INMATE NAZARETH GATES AND OTHERS, THAT THE CONDITIONS AT PARCHMAN WERE PUBLICLY AIRED AND ORDERED RELIEVED. SINCE THAT LANDMARK FEDERAL RULING MANDATING SWIFT, COMPREHENSIVE REFORM AT PARCHMAN, MISSISSIPPI HAS SERVED AS A MODEL TO THE NATION IN TERMS OF ITS DELIBERATE AND SPEEDY EFFORTS TO UPGRADE STATE FACILITIES BY REDUCING PRISON OVERCROWDING, REDESIGNING MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM SECURITY FACILITIES, ELIMINATING FORCED PRISON FARM LABOR, AND HIRING PROFESSIONAL PENOLOGISTS TO SUPERVISE REFORM EFFORTS. OTHER MEASURES, SUCH AS A PRETRIAL DIVERSION PROGRAM, HAVE ALSO BEEN INSTITUTED TO REDUCE THE NUMBERS OF INMATES ASSIGNED TO PARCHMAN, STILL MISSISSIPPI'S ONLY PENITENTIARY. HOWEVER, THE REFORM EFFORTS HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED FOR THEIR EMPHASIS ON REPLACING THE OLD LABOR CAMPS WITH MONOLITHIC INSTITUTIONS WHICH WAREHOUSE OFFENDERS. THE ORIGINAL, AND LARGELY UNFULFILLED, GOAL OF THE GATES SUIT WAS PROVISION OF DECENTRALIZED, REHABILITATION-ORIENTED, COMMUNITY-BASED ALTERNATIVES. PHOTOS ILLUSTRATE THE TEXT. (KBL)