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| Court reverses order on some Mississippi death row improvements |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/19/2004 |
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The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted some requirements it imposed last month for Mississippi to improve conditions on death row at the state penitentiary at Parchman. The court also let stand some required improvements only on death row. It said those improvements, such as screens for windows and cold water on hot days, don't apply in other parts of Parchman's maximum-security unit. Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps and prisoners' rights attorney Ron Welch could not immediately be reached last Tuesday. In the order handed down last Friday, the appeals court lifted a requirement that the Mississippi Department of Corrections return inmates' laundry clean and without a foul smell. The order said death-row inmates could wash their laundry with bar soap if they're not happy with the smell and "there was no proof of any serious medical harm to any inmate" from laundry that's not fresh. The court also lifted an order that required the department to let inmates wear sneakers instead of flip-flop sandals while exercising. MDOC called the requirement "inadmissible micromanagement." Prison officials say flip-flops make it harder for inmates to escape. The appeals court wrote that "there is no support for the proposition that exercising in flip-flops constitutes cruel and unusual punishment." Another requirement the appeals court lifted said MDOC had to have a written maintenance schedule and program. The Appeals Court let stand a requirement that the corrections agency improve mental health care for inmates. Among the improvements still required for death row but not for other parts of the maximum-security unit was one that "pingpong" toilets be fixed. When a toilet is flushed in one cell, the waste appears in the toilet of the adjoining cell unless both are flushed at the same time. A three-judge Appeals Court panel on June 28 rejected arguments from MDOC that U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis should not have considered a lawsuit by death row inmate Willie Russell that led to the court's intervention. |
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