Mississippi lawmakers will consider requiring state prisons to provide inmates on work assignments with protective gear.
The legislation follows an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging inmates at a Mississippi prison were exposed to dangerous chemicals, with some later contracting late-stage cancer.
Susan Balfour, 63, was incarcerated for 33 years at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility until her release in December 2021. Balfour said she was among a group of prisoners asked to clean the facility without protective equipment.
She was later diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, a condition that prison health care providers failed to identify years ago because they could save money by not performing necessary medical screenings and treatment, according to the lawsuit Balfour filed in the U.S. Southern District of Mississippi.
Rep. Justis Gibbs, D-Jackson, says his proposal, inspired in part by Balfour’s story, addresses the first of a two-pronged issue that leaves Mississippi’s prison inmates vulnerable to dangerous conditions.
“On the front end, it is about protecting our inmates from exposure to raw chemicals and mixing raw chemicals without any protective equipment,” Gibbs said. “The other prong is of course the lack of medical care in terms of the corrections system and its inmates.”
Gibbs’ bill, which has been referred to the House Corrections Committee, would ensure that if an inmate uses raw cleaning chemicals, prison officials must provide them with protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, protective helmets and eye protection. Balfour’s attorneys and Gibbs say over 10 other Mississippi inmates have come down with cancer or become seriously ill after they were exposed to chemicals while on work assignments.
“I’m grateful that state lawmakers have acknowledged this injustice,” Balfour said in a written statement. “Forcing women to work with raw chemicals and cleaning supplies without protective equipment is hazardous and deeply problematic. If successful, this effort will help prevent others from enduring what many have suffered at the hands of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.”
Pauline Rogers, co-founder of the RECH Foundation, an organization that assists women returning from prison, said Gibbs’ bill provides a long overdue safeguard for inmates, who are often encouraged to work while incarcerated in areas such as food service, maintenance and groundkeeping.
“The issue has arisen in Mississippi’s prisons, in part, due to longstanding neglect, underfunding, and systemic dehumanization within the correctional system. Incarcerated individuals are often viewed as expendable rather than as individuals with rights,” Rogers said. “This disregard leads to unsafe working environments, where profit and efficiency are prioritized over basic safety measures.”
The Mississippi Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment.
Balfour says she used products that contained chemicals such as glyphosate, which has been linked to an increased risk of cancer in some studies. Balfour’s attorneys have said they have not proven with certainty that exposure to the cleaning chemicals caused Balfour’s cancer. But the lawsuit focuses on what they say were substantial delays and denial of medical treatment that could have detected her cancer earlier.
Incentives in contracts with the state Department of Corrections encouraged cost-cutting by reducing outpatient referrals to health care providers and interfering with physicians’ independent clinical judgments, the lawsuit alleges.
Balfour was initially convicted of murdering a police officer and sentenced to death, but that conviction was later reversed in 1992 after the Mississippi Supreme Court found her constitutional rights had been violated during her trial. She later reached a plea agreement on a lesser charge, her attorney said.
Balfour believes her cancer may have been detectable over a decade ago. After she was released in 2021, an outpatient doctor performed a mammogram that showed she had stage four breast cancer, her lawsuit says.
Balfour sued three companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. The companies delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Balfour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians, the lawsuit says.
Gibbs hopes to introduce legislation in the future that provides stronger guarantees that inmates receive timely medical care.
“While we do have a Department of Corrections, it’s also lawmakers’ duty and responsibility to ensure that there are human rights for our state’s inmates,” Gibbs said.
The post Mississippi doesn’t have to provide protective gear to working inmates. Bill aims to change that appeared first on Mississippi Today.