Mississippi Parchman Prison Wave of Deaths Prompts Federal Investigation

Between December 2019 and February 2020, at least 29 people died in Mississippi state prisons — 13 in the first three weeks of 2020 alone — in facilities with Black majority populations. The DOJ opened a civil rights investigation in April 2020. Parchman Farm has a history rooted in convict leasing designed to exploit Black prisoners for labor after the Civil War. A federal consent agreement was reached in 2022 requiring reforms.