Mississippi prisons may soon have to provide protective gear like face masks and gloves to incarcerated individuals on work assignments involving dangers like toxic chemicals under a new bill.
Lawmakers in the Mississippi House voted 115-0 to pass House Bill 658 on Feb. 10. House Rep. Justis Gibbs, D-Jackson, who drafted the legislation, told the Mississippi Free Press on Monday that he expects the Senate’s Corrections Committee to vote on the bill in the next few weeks.
‘We Are Not Doing Our Job’
Days before members of the House voted to pass House Bill 658, Rep. Justis Gibbs held a press conference at the Mississippi Capitol Building on Feb. 5, saying that it is up to lawmakers to “right the wrongs with prison reform.”
“We are not doing our job as state legislators if we are not protecting those who do not have the capacity to protect themselves” Gibbs continued. “House bill 658 seeks to do just that.”
The proposal comes a year after Susan Balfour filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 14, 2024, alleging that in her thirty-three years at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, prison officials forced her and other inmates to “clean the prison with chemicals known to cause breast or other cancers without any protective equipment, including but not limited to glyphosate.”
Balfour, 63, now suffers from “stage IV breast cancer which has metastasized and is now present in her lymph nodes, bones and liver,” the lawsuit says. She believes that mixing the raw chemicals without protective equipment and the failure of prison medical staff to provide adequate medical treatment led to her prognosis.
Balfour’s lawsuit alleges that medical staff did not tell her of the diagnosis until just days before her release from prison in 2021. Wexford Health Sources, Centurion Health and VitalCore are three of the healthcare contractors that Balfour names in the lawsuit, saying that they delayed or failed to schedule cancer screenings that a prison doctor said were necessary.
‘Incarcerated Individuals Are Human Beings’
At least 15 other people currently incarcerated in Mississippi Correctional facilities are also suffering from cancer and not receiving adequate treatment, Susan Bafour’s lawsuit alleges.
“This bill is not just about protective gear. It’s about acknowledging that incarcerated individuals are human beings,” Reaching and Educating for Community Hope Foundation CEO Pauline Rogers said during the Feb. 5 press conference inside the state Capitol Building.
“It is about preventing unnecessary suffering, ensuring that those serving time are not subjected to preventable health hazards,” she continued. Rogers and her husband Frederick Rogers both served time in prison. Upon their release, they started the non-profit to offer support to other families with incarcerated loved ones.
Each year, the organization sponsors toy drives for children with incarcerated parents, offers transitional housing for women and reentry programs that include mentoring and workforce development to help the formerly incarcerated reacclimate to life outside of prison.
Rogers commended Balfour for her bravery in choosing to come forward with the allegations, adding that “her condition has progressively worsened,” which is why she could not attend the press conference.
“Her voice has sparked a movement. Today, we take another step forward in ensuring humane treatment for those who cannot advocate for themselves. This is not just a legislative issue. It is a public health crisis,” she said.
“This legislation is not just a policy change. It is a moral statement,” Rogers continued. “Let it serve as a reminder that change is possible when we listen, when we advocate and when we work together for a justice system that values life and dignity.”
The Mississippi Department of Corrections declined a request for comment on this story.
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