By Emily Le Coz
USA Today
JACKSON, Miss. — The East Mississippi Correctional Facility today radically differs from the cesspool of filth and abuse described in a federal lawsuit that two civil rights groups filed Thursday, according to the private company that now runs the prison.
Utah-based Management & Training Corp. took over operations of the 1,500-bed institution for the mentally ill in July. Since then, offender-on-offender assaults have decreased 74%, and use-of-force incidents have dropped 60%, company spokesman Issa Arnita said.
“Operationally, it’s a much better place, not just for the offenders, but the employees,” said the facility’s warden, Frank Shaw.
Not everyone agrees.
Jody Owens, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Jackson office, said conditions at the prison have worsened since the new contractor took over.
“We were there two weeks ago,” Owens said. “This is happening right now.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in filing an 83-page complaint. It details a litany of woes at the Meridian, Miss. prison, about 85 miles east of here, but most of what was cited occurred under the watch of the Boca Raton, Fla.-based GEO Group.
Full story: New contractor says Mississippi prison ‘much better’