In 2022, a district judge finds Hinds County, Miss. officials in contempt of a federal consent decree after monitors report that a portion of its jail is essentially run by gangs. About 30 cells are used as dumpsters. Lights don't work. The majority of cell doors do not lock. Inmates regularly escape through the roof and return with contraband. Disliked inmates are assaulted, not allowed to eat. (Two such inmates are discovered emaciated and covered in feces and sores.) Hinds County: The real "constitutional abomination" here is the consent decree, which is the cause of all these problems. Fifth Circuit: The district court did not err in declining to terminate the consent decree, but it can't give a receiver control over the jail's budget.
The case is United States v. Hinds Cty. Bd. of Supervisors, No. 22-60203 (5th Cir. Oct. 31, 2024).