(Source: WIS) By Howard Ballou | January 20, 2021 at 9:41 PM CST - Updated January 21 at 8:44 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - With 343,000 U.S. inmates testing positive for COVID-19 and over 2,100 dying from the virus, Mississippi’s 17,000 prisoners are among the safest from the virus according to comparable figures in other states and those compiled by inmate-advocacy groups, stated the Marshall Project.
Mississippi Department of Corrections has registered 1,383 COVID-positive inmates, which is 32 times less than the nation’s most infected prison systems, California and federal prisons, each with 44,000 prisoners who’ve tested positive for COVID-19.
But the most critical figure of all, inmate COVID-19 deaths, stands at 21 in Mississippi, the lowest number by far of COVID-related deaths in southern states, compared with Florida at 204 deaths; Texas at 177; and Georgia at 87.
Some prisons taking pre-orders for cigarettes, in preparation for Feb. 1 lift of smoking ban (Source: KSLA News 12) By Anthony Warren | January 18, 2021 at 6:55 PM CST - Updated January 19 at 2:43 PM
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Inmates are likely counting down the days until they’ll be able to light up again in Mississippi’s prisons.
So many people are expected to begin smoking, in fact, that some facilities began taking pre-orders for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products earlier this month.
However, the rollout isn’t without its hitches.
Some inmates are complaining of price-gouging, while some nonprofits are saying the change in policy will only hurt inmate health.