Parchman Farm Blues: Pushing for Prison Reforms at Mississippi State Penitentiary

In the words of the governor, Parchman Farm was run "like an efficient slave plantation," in order to provide young black men with the "proper discipline, strong work habits, and respect for white authority." Judge Keady ordered an immediate end to all of the unconstitutional conditions and practices - including punishment by putting inmates naked in a dark hole without a toilet, or by "beating, shooting, administering milk of magnesia, or stripping inmates of their clothes, turning fans on inmates while they are naked and wet, depriving inmates of mattresses, hygienic materials and/or adequate food, handcuffing or otherwise binding inmates to fences, bars, or other fixtures, using a cattle prod to keep inmates standing or moving, or forcing inmates to stand, sit or lie on crates, stumps or otherwise maintain awkward positions for prolonged periods."