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.