Jackson Free Press

Youth detained at Hinds County's Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center may be confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, endure verbal abuse, and many are not provided with educational and counseling services, according to juvenile justice advocates.

After approximately two years of trying to resolve issues with county officials, Mississippi Youth Justice Project Staff Attorney Corrie Cockrell said her organization, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a lawsuit against Hinds County yesterday.

In 2009, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved a memorandum of understanding with the MYJP, which called for a series of reforms. The memorandum resulted in officers discontinuing the use of a restraining chair. But other requests, such as limiting the amount of time detainees were confined to their cells and ensuring that detainees receive educational and medical services, have not been resolved, Cockrell said.

"We were regularly meeting until a year ago to bring this to their attention, and progress was going well," Cockrell said. "... Then things became a standstill, and there was no movement in the right direction. From that point forward, we have been reaching out to the county, but felt like we had to bring the lawsuit forward because we have not been able to make any progress for a year now. "

Cockrell said that MYJP sent weekly reports about the conditions of the facility to three county supervisors, as well as the board attorney and administrator.

Hinds County Supervisor Peggy Calhoun, who raised questions about the facility's staff and transparency in 2009, said she had not been notified of the allegations of abuse since the board passed the memorandum in 2009. She said that the weekly reports the MYJP provided to county officials contained mostly positive information about detention center.

"I don't think the lawsuit is necessary to change any alleged conditions of prolonged isolation, verbal abuse and threats of physical harm," Calhoun told the Jackson Free Press today. "Because if these matters come before board we will address the situation. ... I certainly would not tolerate or allow any of the young people to be subjected to adverse conditions. Regrettably the Southern Poverty Law Center has not communicated to me any of their concerns, nor has staff communicated to me any concerns. When I heard about the lawsuit, I was appalled by all the allegations."

Calhoun added that Carmen Davis, county administrator, is conducting an investigation into the allegations.

"If we should find that the children have been subjected to any kind of abuse, we will certainly handle the situation as a personnel matter and correct any of the problems we encounter." Calhoun said.

Read the memorandum of understanding.
Read the
complaint.

Previous Commentsshow

in my opinion, most every correctional facility in this state needs to be sued or have a major over haul of employees. TOO many are family related and the lies and contraband they bring to the facilites are ridiculous. NO , our guys are not on vacation, but they are human and should be treated fairly. SOME of the facilities especially the private owned will hand out RVRs like candy, some of these violations are just plain silly but yet it is in the inmates record/files forever. SOME will walk free in the future and have learned nothing but distrust, injustice etc. IT BEHOOVES us to treat them fairly, they may be our neighbors in the future. JUST MY opinon

wataworld

Jun 2 2011

It is a must that MS's Detention Center take better care of our troubled youth. Many, if not most, of the children in this system are products of dysfunctional family units. Their abuse started long before being admitted into Detention. It is my hope that this system will be structured in a positive way to avoid abuse and neglect. We can do better!

justjess

Jun 2 2011