Inmates battle heat, mold and mice inside Mississippi's largest prison
Inside Mississippi's largest prison, inmates battle stifling heat as temperatures become more extreme.
Inside the sole unit without air conditioning at Mississippi’s largest prison, inmates hang wet sheets from their cell ceilings to dampen the air and lay drenched towels strategically across their bodies.
A temporary reprieve comes from scoops of ice handed out twice a day.
As punishing heat spreads across the Deep South this summer, inmates in Unit 29 at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman say they are sweltering inside cells where temperatures can easily climb into the triple digits.
The issue drew the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department four years ago, but despite efforts to upgrade the only maximum-security prison for men in the state, inmates say the situation has not improved.
“It’s hotter inside the cell,” one inmate in his 30s said by phone recently. “I’d rather be outside on the pavement and no shade. At least you can get a breeze. The heat inside is just stationary.”
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