The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a federal lawsuit this week against Mississippi County to stop "shockingly inhumane" conditions for children at the Harrison County Juvenile Detention Center, which is run by a private company.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on behalf of a 17-year-old boy who, despite attempting suicide while in the facility, has received no mental health treatment. He has been subjected to physical abuse and filthy conditions, and has been forced to sleep on the floor in an overcrowded, insect-infested cell.
Filthy conditions, assaults by guards and inadequate medical and mental health care are cited in the complaint.
Mississippi Protection and Advocacy Inc., a congressionally authorized nonprofit organization that enforces the civil rights of people with disabilities, is also a plaintiff in the suit. It is demanding access to the facility, to which it is entitled under federal law.
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