Why No One Knows How Many People Die in Mississippi’s Local Jails: From medical neglect to suicide, the lack of information on jail deaths can allow the same deadly problems to lead to more deaths.
Why No One Knows How Many People Die in Mississippi’s Local Jails: From medical neglect to suicide, the lack of information on jail deaths can allow the same deadly problems to lead to more deaths.
www.themarshallproject.org
No One Knows How Many People Die in Mississippi’s Jails. Here’s Why.
At least 46 people have died in Mississippi’s county jails since 2020, according to lawsuits, news reports and law enforcement records reviewed by The Marshall Project - Jackson. But those lost lives do not appear in any official statistics or records.
Mississippi has long failed to count and report all deaths in local jails that serve the state’s 82 counties, despite a federal requirement to do so. These often dangerous facilities operate virtually free of any state oversight.