US judge issues 2nd contempt order for Mississippi jail

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has issued his second contempt order this year over poor conditions at a county jail in Mississippi. Court monitors found staff members at the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County are afraid to work in a housing unit controlled by inmate gangs. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves filed the order Wednesday against Hinds County. The jail is divided into housing units called pods. Reeves wrote that conditions in Pod A are “particularly egregious,” with gangs carrying out attacks and deciding which inmates receive meals. The pod has broken lights, locks and showers. Hinds is Mississippi’s largest county.