When people hear about a “civil rights attorney,” their first thought is most likely police brutality. Other civil rights cases include violations of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects individuals from cruel and unusual punishment, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that government cannot deprive “any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The attorneys at Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, handle police brutality cases, as well as cases involving violations of prisoners’ rights.

As civil rights attorneys dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of all Mississippians, Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, has specialized expertise in “Section 1983” cases (42 U.S.C. § 1983). Our attorneys fight to hold private prison corporations accountable when they prioritize profit over prisoner welfare and constitutional rights, resulting in injury or even death.

In Mississippi, nearly 1/3 of the state's prison population is housed in private prison. Private prisons were once touted as cost-effective alternatives to state prisons, but reality has proven otherwise.

The Private Prison Landscape in Mississippi.

Mississippi has welcomed private prisons more than many other states. Major for-profit corporations such as Management & Training Corporation (MTC), CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), and GEO Group have operated and managed facilities throughout the state, including:

• East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF), Meridian, Mississippi
  • EMCF opened in 1999 under Cornell Companies’ management until 2010, when GEO Group, the nation’s 2nd largest for-profit prison company, took over operations. In 2012, MTC – the nation’s 3rd largest prison company – replaced GEO Group, but conditions at EMCF still did not improve.
  • In 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a class action lawsuit (see Dockery v. Epps et al) against the State of Mississippi, EMCF operators, and others, alleging unconstitutional conditions of confinement. The class action lawsuit did not end until August 2021.
  • Deaths and inmate assaults continued and still occur. In July 2024, (3) inmates died at EMCF. Many others died before July 2024, and even more were seriously injured.
• Marshall County Correctional Facility (MCCF), Holly Springs, Mississippi
  • MCCF was privately run since it opened in 1996, until MDOC took control of the prison in September 2021.
  • In July 2021, only (3) months before MDOC takeover, a young man was brutally attacked by inmates and died from multiple skull fractures and lacerations to his body.

Often, no one is charged even when inmates murder other inmates. However, (1) inmate was indicted for the July 2021 killing, but he still has not been served the Indictment, although his location is easily accessible online via MDOC Inmate Search.

• Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF), Woodville, Mississippi
  • WCCF opened in January 1998 and was operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) (now, CoreCivic) until MTC took over operation in 2013.
  • In 2010, the State Penitentiary (Parchman) was forced to shut down Unit 32 as part of a settlement after the ACLU sued MDOC alleging “inhumane conditions” and “lack of medical and mental health care.” Unit 32 inmates were transferred to WCCF, which became known as the “New Unit 32,” or “Killing Fields,” between 2011 and 2013.
  • In February 2024, the Department of Justice published a 60-page report detailing 8th and 14th Amendment violations at WCCF and other Mississippi prisons.
• Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility (TCCF), Tutwiler, Mississippi
  • CoreCivic has owned and operated TCCF since it opened in March 2020.
  • Currently, TCCF’s “customer base” includes Montana DOC, South Carolina DOC, Vermont DOC, Wyoming DOC, Harris County, Hinds County, Tallahatchie County, U.S. Marshals, Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections.

Private prison operators’ driving force is profit, which creates disturbing incentives and consequences. Private corporations usually get a certain, fixed amount per inmate per day, so, cutting costs and corners  increased profits and pockets.

This financial structure often leads to:

• Dangerous understaffing levels;
• Inadequate training for correctional officers;
• Substandard medical care;
• Insufficient mental health services;
• Inferior quality food and basic necessities;
• Minimal rehabilitative programming.

Unique Legal Considerations in Mississippi Private Prison Litigation.

Suing private prison operators involves unique legal strategies that differ from cases against state- run facilities, such as Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF). The legal framework changes in important ways:

State Action Requirement: Even though EMCF and WCCF are privately operated, courts recognize that they perform a traditional government function, meaning private prison staff are considered "state actors" for constitutional purposes. This allows civil rights claims under § 1983.

Corporate Liability: Unlike state facilities protected by certain immunity doctrines, private prison corporations can be held liable for constitutional violations when their policies or customs cause rights violations. This creates opportunities to address systemic issues rather than just individual misconduct.

Contract Compliance: Private prison operators in Mississippi must adhere to their contracts with the state, which typically include minimum standards for staffing, medical care, and facility conditions. Violations of these contractual obligations can strengthen civil rights claims.

Multiple Defendants: Cases often involve both the prison corporation and private healthcare providers they contract with, creating complex litigation involving multiple corporate entities.

No Qualified Immunity for Private Contractors: In some jurisdictions, courts have ruled that private prison contractors cannot claim qualified immunity defenses that often protect government officials. This removes a significant hurdle present in many prisoner rights cases.

Our Approach to Mississippi Private Prison Litigation.

Our dedicated attorneys have specialized strategies for Section 1983 civil rights cases:

1. Comprehensive Investigation: Private prison operators often go to great lengths to conceal evidence of wrongdoing. Our investigation process includes:
   • Working with current and former employees willing to expose violations;
   • Filing targeted public records requests for state monitoring reports, incident documentation, and contract compliance reviews;
   • Analyzing staffing patterns and corporate financial reports to demonstrate how cost- cutting measures led to harmful conditions;
   • Consulting with correctional standards experts who can identify deviations from industry requirements;
   • Documenting patterns of similar incidents that establish corporate knowledge of ongoing problems.
2. Building Strong Constitutional Claims: Our litigation strategy focuses on establishing the constitutional violations most common in private facilities:
   • Eighth Amendment Claims: We document how inadequate staffing, medical care, and security measures create conditions amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. By demonstrating that corporate policies prioritize profit over constitutional minimums, we establish deliberate indifference necessary for these claims.
   • Fourteenth Amendment Due Process: For pretrial detainees held in private facilities, we pursue due process claims when conditions of confinement cross the line from incidental to punishment without conviction.
   • First Amendment Protections: We challenge retaliation against prisoners who file grievances or speak out about conditions, as well as defending religious freedoms often neglected in private facilities.
3. Addressing Medical Neglect in Private Prisons: Medical care in Mississippi's private prisons often falls far below constitutional standards. Private companies frequently subcontract healthcare to separate for-profit entities, creating a system where both companies point fingers at each other while patients suffer. Our approach includes:
   • Collaborating with medical experts to review records and identify deviations from standard care;
   • Documenting systematic failures in medication distribution, chronic care management, and emergency response;
   • Establishing the corporate policies that created these deficiencies, such as inadequate staffing of medical units;
   • Holding both the prison operator and the healthcare contractor accountable for their respective roles.
4. Challenging Violence and Security Failures: Mississippi's private prisons have frequently made headlines for disturbing levels of violence. Understaffing creates environments where assaults and riots become inevitable. Our attorneys address this by:
   • Documenting the actual staffing levels against contractual requirements;
   • Establishing patterns of violence that put the corporation on notice of dangerous conditions;
   • Demonstrating how profit-driven decisions created unmonitored areas where violence flourished;
   • Holding corporations accountable for failure to protect vulnerable inmates from known dangers.
5. Pursuing Systemic Reform Through Litigation: Beyond seeking compensation for individual clients, our cases aim to drive meaningful change. This includes but is not limited to:
   • Negotiating consent decrees that mandate specific improvements in conditions;
   • Securing monitoring provisions that provide ongoing oversight of compliance;
   • Structuring settlements to address root causes rather than just symptoms;
   • Advocating for contract modifications that create stronger incentives for constitutional compliance.

The Human Impact of Private Prison Abuse.

Most people forget this, but it is the most important aspect here. Behind every case are real people suffering physical harm. While we cannot discuss specific case details, the stories of our clients reveal the human toll of putting profit before constitutional rights.

• Untreated serious medical conditions that developed into permanent disabilities. Inmates have lost arms, legs, and even their life from simple infections that went untreated, despite repeated requests for medical attention.
• Preventable deaths from medical neglect that occurred after repeated, ignored requests for help. Imagine suffocating to death while begging for asthma treatment from a guard who is less than 10 steps away, yet refuses to provide life-saving medical treatment, which he/she knows you need.
• Trauma from sexual assaults that happened in unmonitored, or even monitored, areas of facilities. 

• Brutal beatings by undertrained staff responding to minor rule violations or inmate-on-inmate attacks. Gang attacks are all-too-common in prison, often resulting in severe injury or death. Note: not all gang attacks are inmate on inmate but sometimes involve staff as well.
• Psychological damage from extended isolation is used as a substitute for adequate mental health care.

These aren't just constitutional violations – they represent profound human suffering that no sentence, regardless of the crime committed, should include.

Why Choose Our Firm for Private Prison Cases?

Taking on powerful corporations requires specialized experience and resources. The attorneys at

Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, brings unique qualifications to these challenging cases:

Deep Understanding of Corporate Prison Operations: We've studied the business models, staffing patterns, and internal policies of major private prison operators, allowing us to identify precisely how cost-cutting measures translate to constitutional violations.

Network of Industry Experts: We collaborate with former correctional administrators, medical professionals, and security experts who can testify to professional standards and how private facilities fail to meet them.

Investigative Resources: Our team includes investigators with backgrounds in corrections who understand how to develop evidence from within these closed environments. Some experts and investigators have knowledge of facilities and their exact operations.

Record of Success Against Corporate Defendants: We've successfully litigated against major Mississippi private prison operators, giving us insight into their defense strategies and internal operations.

We are not “new names” to private prison owners, insurance adjusters, or defense attorneys. This is not our first rodeo, AND THEY KNOW IT.

Commitment to Systemic Change: We structure our litigation to address not just individual incidents but corporate policies that allow rights violations to flourish.

Contact Our Mississippi Private Prison Litigation Team.

If you or a loved one has suffered abuse, neglect, or other constitutional violations in a privately operated correctional facility in Mississippi, our experienced attorneys at Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, are ready to help. We understand the courage it takes to challenge powerful corporations, and we're committed to fighting for justice and accountability.

Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, offers confidential consultations to discuss potential claims, and we work on a contingency fee basis for these cases. There is a limited time to file claims related to prison abuse, so contact us today to ensure your rights are protected. Our website form is available HERE, or you can email Courtney (courtneys@coxwelllaw.com).