MacArthur Students Inspect Parchman’s Death Row

Left to right: Ashton Fisher, Sampada Kapoor, Michael Shoptaw, Naura Guillaume, Kellie Grizzell, Breanna Goff, Jacob Waldo, Sparkle Jennings, Rob Noland, and MacArthur Justice Center Director Cliff Johnson

Left to right: Kellie Grizzell, Sparkle Jennings, Ashton Fisher, Jacob Waldo, MacArthur Justice Center Director Cliff Johnson, Breanna Goff, Sampada Kapoor, Rob Noland, Michael Shoptaw, and Naura Guillaume

On March 9, 2016, members of the MacArthur Justice Clinic conducted an inspection of Death Row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman as part of the monitoring component of the MacArthur Justice Center’s recent settlement of its lawsuit against the State of Mississippi addressing the conditions of confinement on Death Row.  In addition to conducting an inspection of the facilities, Clinic participants interviewed Death Row inmates “cell-side” regarding the State’s compliance with the terms of the settlement.

Following their work at Death Row, Clinic members visited the gravesite of Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville, Mississippi.  Hamer was a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement who embodied the strength and influence of the “ordinary people” who have been the backbone of the fight for equality in Mississippi.  Hamer is perhaps best known for her lament, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Courtesy of the University of Mississippi Law School