(CNN) The Justice Department is launching an investigation into the conditions of several Mississippi prisons following a series of inmate deaths, the agency announced Wednesday. The department's Civil Rights Division will focus on the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the South Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. Nine inmates have died at Parchman in a little more than a month, most of which as a result of either violence or suicide. As of January 17, Parchman held 2,815 of the state's more than 19,000 prisoners. The Mississippi Department of Corrections said it had no comment on the investigation.

Source: CNN February 06, 2020 02:26 UTC