The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
November 7, 2014

Former Mississippi Prisons Chief Arraigned in Private Prison Bribery Scheme 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
The former head of prisons in Mississippi has been charged with
orchestrating a massive corruption scheme that saw him take about $1
million in bribes in exchange for state contracts to private prison
firms. A newly unsealed 49-count indictment accuses Christopher Epps of
directing contracts to private firms with ties to a former state
legislator. A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and
Southern Poverty Law Center describes conditions at a prison operated by
one such firm as hellish, calling it "an extremely dangerous facility
operating in a perpetual state of crisis."

 

.