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(AP) — Inmates at a Mississippi prison were forced to mix raw cleaning chemicals without protective equipment, with one alleging she later contracted terminal cancer and was denied timely medical care, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges. Susan Balfour, 62, was incarcerated for 33 years at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility until her release in December 2021. Prisoners were required to clean the facility, without protective equipment, using chemicals that might cause cancer, Balfour's lawsuit says. “I feel betrayed by our system that failed to provide timely medical care for me. The companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the facility — Wexford Health Sources, Centurion Health and VitalCore — delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Baflour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians, the lawsuit says.

Persons: JACKSON, Susan Balfour, Balfour, I'm, VitalCore —, Drew Tominello, Tominello, Pauline Rogers ,, ” Rogers, ” ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, U.S . Southern, U.S . Southern District of, Centurion Health, Mississippi Department of Corrections, of Corrections, Mississippi Supreme, Rech Foundation, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Mississippi, U.S, U.S . Southern District, U.S . Southern District of Mississippi, Wexford, @mikergoldberg

“Mar-Jac and its affiliates have a long and sordid history of willful disregard for worker safety,” the lawsuit reads. In July, Duvan became the third worker to die in less than three years at the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, plant owned by Mar-Jac, a Georgia-based poultry production company. After Duvan's death, Onin filed a notice with the state to avoid paying worker's compensation,the lawsuit claims. OSHA had issued at least eight citations for safety violations at the plant before Duvan's death, the lawsuit says. After the accident, Labor Department officials said Duvan’s death offered a reminder that children remain vulnerable to exploitation in the U.S. workplace.

Persons: JACKSON, Edilma Perez Ramirez, Mar, Jac, Duvan Perez, “, Duvan, Joel Velasco Toto, Bobby Butler, Perez Ramirez, Onin, Toto, Butler, Seth Hunter, Perez Ramirez's, Chick, ” Hunter, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: U.S . Department, Safety, Health Administration, Mar, OSHA, Onin Staffing, Labor, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Mississippi, Forest, Guatemala, Hattiesburg , Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, U.S, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — One day after Mississippi health officials told residents in the state’s capital that dangerous bacteria could be in their tap water, the state health department said Friday that city water was safe to consume. Mississippi health officials lifted their health advisory after a new round of test results did not find E. coli in Jackson's supply. The move came hours after Ted Henifin, Jackson’s interim water manager, said repeat samples taken from the city’s water system tested negative for E. coli. In a statement Friday, the health department stood by the initial test results and dismissed the idea that its lab had been contaminated. At news conferences on Thursday and Friday, Henifin said state officials refused to validate the lab results before issuing the boil-water notice.

Persons: JACKSON, Jackson, Ted Henifin, Henifin, ”, Dan Edney, Greg Flynn, Flynn, “, Flowood, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Mississippi Department, Mississippi Department of Health, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Mississippi, Flowood, Jackson, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — The manager of the long-troubled water system in Mississippi's capital city proposed a slight rate increase for most residents Friday alongside what he said is a first-in-the-nation proposal to reduce water rates for low-income people who get government help with grocery bills. If enacted, it would be the latest in a series of changes after infrastructure breakdowns in 2022 caused many Jackson residents to go days and weeks without safe running water. “We think this is a great opportunity to really change the dialogue around water and sewer in the city of Jackson,” Henifin said at a news conference. The proposal also marks the first rate increase since a federal judge appointed Henifin to manage Jackson's water system last November. JXN Water will start shutting off water for people who don't pay their bills sometime after Jan. 1st, Henifin said.

Persons: JACKSON, Ted Henifin, ” Henifin, Henifin, Delbert Hosemann, Jan ., Chokwe Antar Lumumba, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Nutrition Assistance, SNAP, Mississippi Legislature, Gov, Jackson, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Jackson, Mississippi, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation Wednesday into alleged civil rights violations by police in a majority Black Mississippi city, stepping in following accusations that officers used excessive force and arrested people without justification. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the Justice Department's civil rights division, announced the investigation at a news conference. The area also has a storied place in civil rights history. It also follows the June arrest of Jill Collen Jefferson, the president of JULIAN, the civil rights organization that filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of residents. If the Justice Department concludes that police officers committed the alleged civil rights violations, it could bring a lawsuit seeking court-ordered changes to the department.

Persons: JACKSON, Kristen Clarke, Clarke, ” Clarke, Robert Clark, Todd Gee, Jill Collen Jefferson, JULIAN, Sam Dobbins, Dobbins, Jefferson, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: U.S . Justice Department, “, Mississippi Legislature, Southern, Southern District of, Lexington Police Department, Lexington Police, Lexington, Department, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Black Mississippi, Lexington, Jackson, Holmes County, Mississippi, U.S, Southern District, Southern District of Mississippi, Rankin County , Mississippi, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — A federal judge has postponed sentencing for six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of federal charges for torturing two Black men in January. Lee has not yet rescheduled the sentencing hearing, but some of the former officers requested it be delayed until Dec. 15. The men admitted in August to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture. Political Cartoons View All 1227 ImagesThe officers taunted the men with racial slurs and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. “Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker are urging that the sentencing for the ‘Goon Squad’ members ... take place as quickly as possible," Shabazz said.

Persons: JACKSON, Tom Lee, Lee, Michael Corey Jenkins, Eddie Terrell Parker, Jenkins, Parker, Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke, Joshua Hartfield, Malik Shabazz, “ Michael Jenkins, Eddie Parker, Shabazz, Michael Jenkins, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: —, District, Rankin County, Associated Press, ” Prosecutors, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: MISS, Mississippi, U.S, Braxton, Rankin, Richland, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — The Mississippi sheriff who leads the department where former deputies pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for the torture of two Black men has asked a federal court to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him. Court records show that attorney Jase Dare asked to dismiss the lawsuit on Oct. 6, just one day after a settlement conference was filed with the court. A settlement conference is scheduled when the parties in a lawsuit try to settle a case before trial. One of those men was Pierre Woods, who was shot and killed by Rankin County deputies in 2019. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Persons: JACKSON, Michael Corey Jenkins, Eddie Terrell Parker, Bryan Bailey's, Jenkins, Parker's, Bailey, “, Jase Dare, Malik Shabazz, Trent Walker, ’, Bryan Bailey’s, Walker, Parker, Hunter Elward, Pierre Woods, Rankin, Woods, Brett McAlpin, Dare, McAlpin, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke, Joshua Hartfield, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Prosecutors, Associated Press, U.S, Circuit, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, The Mississippi, Rankin, Elward, Richland, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — Mississippi's gubernatorial election could hinge on turnout among Black voters, who haven't wielded political influence commensurate to their share of the state population, the Democratic nominee said Friday. At a campaign event in the 80% Black state capital of Jackson just over one month before Election Day, Brandon Presley said Black voters could help carry him to victory. Tate Reeves, who is seeking reelection, of hoping they stay home. “Black Mississippi and white Mississippi have been purposefully, strategically and with intent divided over racial lines. Black voters and lawmakers in Mississippi are overwhelmingly Democratic, while Republicans command majority support among white voters and hold supermajorities in the state Legislature.

Persons: JACKSON, — Mississippi's, haven't, Brandon Presley, Tate Reeves, “, Presley, —, Reeves, Jackson, ”, stomped, Keshun Brown, ” Brown, Rodney Hall, Trent Kelly, Gwendolyn Gray, ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: Black, Democratic, Republican Gov, Historic District, Mississippi Delta, Jackson, Mississippi Supreme, Republicans, GOP U.S . Rep, Army, Black Republican, Reconstruction, Center for Healthcare, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, Jackson, “ Black Mississippi, Mississippi, Jackson’s, Mississippi Delta, @mikergoldberg

(AP) — Mississippi has seen a consistent rise in the number of families accepting public assistance for child care since lawmakers banned abortion in almost all circumstances, with the sharpest increase coming after a child support policy change in May, the state human services director said Friday. They also said that when parents couldn't find child care, it prevented them from getting back to work. Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, disputed the idea that the abortion ban has had an impact on child care voucher enrollment. “It’s clear to me it’s not the Dobbs decision. It’s the fact that we made this policy decision that’s been approved by the governor and that you’re seeing thousands of people become eligible because of that,” Hosemann said.

Persons: JACKSON, Bob Anderson, Dobbs, ” Anderson, Roe, Wade, Tate Reeves, couldn't, Delbert Hosemann, “, it’s, that’s, ” Hosemann, they’re, Reeves, ”, Cory Custer, ” ___ Michael Goldberg Organizations: —, Mississippi Department of Human Services, Jackson, Health Organization, U.S, Supreme, Gov, Republican, Child, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Miss, — Mississippi, Mississippi, @mikergoldberg

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