Located in what’s called one of the safest cities in Mississippi, Rankin County Jail has had a reputation for torturing imprisoned people for over 20 years. Last year, the jail made headlines because a group of deputies, known as the “Goon Squad,” was abusing prisoners. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Investigations conducted by The New York Times and Mississippi Today found that jail officials would go as far as enlisting imprisoned people as “trustees” to torture other prisoners.
The Mississippi prison system has had “trustees” since 1901, when guards at Parchman Prison, now Mississippi State Penitentiary, enlisted some favored prisoners, armed them, and tasked them with controlling others. These “trusty shooters” often abused and even killed other imprisoned people.
Recent investigations also found that guards in the Rankin County Jail tortured an intellectually challenged man, Larry Buckhalter, in 2018. He was placed in an electric vest and shocked after he asked for a Coke.
The prison system has exploited and abused people like Buckhalter for far too long. Time and again, it has shown that it cannot be reformed. The only way to protect incarcerated people is to end the prison system for good.