East Mississippi Correctional Facility is hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. Patients with severe psychiatric disabilities go without basic mental health care. Many prisoners attempt suicide. This video is the story of a young man who succeeded.
By Gabriel Eber, ACLU National Prison Project & Eric Balaban, ACLU National Prison Project at 10:38am
Earnest “Marty” Atencio, 44 years old, died on December 20, 2011. His dead body was covered with bruises, lacerations and puncture marks – wounds that made him look like the victim of a vicious attack by criminals. But Marty Atencio wasn’t attacked on the street; the attack that cost him his life took place at the Maricopa County Jails (MCJ) in Phoenix, run by the self-styled “toughest sheriff in America,” Joe Arpaio, and the assailants wore badges and uniforms.
