Lawsuit says Mississippi prisons are ‘plagued by violence’

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – More than two dozen Mississippi inmates are suing the state. The lawsuit filed Tuesday says the state’s understaffed prisons are “plagued by violence.”

In a separate development, federal authorities on Tuesday asked the public for information about prison conditions.

The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson division and Mississippi’s two U.S. attorneys say people should report possible civil rights violations or criminal activity.

They did not say how extensive a federal investigation might be.

Five inmates were killed and an undisclosed number of others were injured in an outburst of violence between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3.

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