Did Mississippi corrections officials retaliate against a death row inmate for speaking up?

By Mina Corpuz | Originally published by Mississippi Today

Lisa Jo Chamberlin decided to speak out about her treatment in prison, including the past decade as the only woman on Mississippi’s death row. 

Speaking to Mississippi Today earlier this year, she raised issues about the isolation and restriction she has experienced in closed custody, including more time locked in her cell and less time to shower or go outside.  

After a Jan. 14 Mississippi Today article about Chamberlin’s treatment compared to the men on death row, her usual contacts said they were unable to reach her until the spring. Chamberlin said she was punished for speaking out with months of more restrictions and what she describes as retaliation. 

“It’s been a rollercoaster ride since I started caring,” Chamberlin said in a Thursday interview several weeks after she regained phone privileges. 

Since she has been under more restriction, Chamberlin said her mental health has worsened, which contributed to a Rules Violation Report writeup. 

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokesperson Kate Head did not respond to a request for comment about Chamberlin’s alleged conditions.

The Rev. Jeff Hood, one of her advocates, has called Chamberlin’s treatment the worst he’s seen, even as he communicates with death row prisoners from across the country and has served as a spiritual adviser in 11 executions. 

He and other advocates have pointed out how her treatment differs from that of the men on death row who have the ability to move throughout their own unit and have access to amenities such as a garden and privileges including freer use of tablets to message and talk with family and friends. 

“They treat her like she doesn’t exist,” said Mitzi Magelby, a Mississippi-based advocate who also was unable to contact Chamberlin for a few months.  

“I feel for her and what she’s going through. I feel like she’s not even given basic human decency.” 

J.R. Rainbolt, an adjunct professor who teaches college criminology and forensic psychology courses, began talking with Chamberlin last year as part of his research into the childhoods of women with death or life without parole sentences. 

In November, Chamberlin used her prison tablet to appear virtually as a guest speaker in one of Rainbolt’s classes – an experience he said students found invaluable and an event that gathered a lot of interest at the school. 

After the January article, Rainbolt said he lost contact with her until April. 

“I kept messaging her. She wasn’t responding. That was it for a while, and I was kind of dumbfounded. Maybe she didn’t want to communicate with me,” said Rainbolt, who is also a retired special agent and host of the podcast “Criminology Chats” through The Chicago School where he teaches.  

To help ease some of the restrictions, Chamberlin’s goddaughter, Laykin Bordelon of Tupelo, sent a letter to state and regional legal organizations and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights Division, requesting an investigation and improvement in Chamberlin’s prison conditions.

Bordelon documented examples of mistreatment, unconstitutional conditions and gender-based disparities Chamberlin has faced, including extreme isolation, punitive restrictions not applied to the men on death row and a severe decline in her mental health.  

Those issues mirror what Chamberlin previously shared with Mississippi Today and recently with Mother Jones, which first reported about the letter. 

“Lisa has had to endure this type of treatment on death row, and it is a systemic issue,” the letter states. “Her conditions are not the result of isolated incidents but reflect an ongoing pattern of unequal treatment, neglect, and punitive practices that are not applied to male death‑row prisoners.”

Bordelon said she has received an automated response from the DOJ confirming receipt of her report and the message gave an idea of what to expect next. Staff will review the report and determine whether to take on an investigation.

Bordelon was not available for comment, but she did give Rainbolt permission to share the letter and the DOJ’s response with Mississippi Today. 

Head, the MDOC spokesperson, did not respond to a request for comment about whether the department was aware of the letter requesting an investigation. 

Chamberlin has been incarcerated for over 20 years for the 2004 murder of two people in Hattiesburg with her then-partner, Roger Gillett. Both received a death sentence, but the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Gillett’s sentence and in 2018 the trial court resentenced him to life without parole. 

She has filed appeals, and her most recent petition for post-conviction relief has been under consideration by the Mississippi Supreme Court since January. Her attorneys argue that unfair evidence about her sex life and failings as a mother introduced during trial violated her due process. They also said her claim is an exception to state law that enforces time limitations on appeals and limits repetitive filing for post-conviction relief.  

As of October, fewer than 50 women are on death row nationwide. Seven states including Mississippi have only one woman with a death sentence. 

Hood and Rainbolt have compared Chamberlin’s treatment to that experienced by Christa Pike, the only woman on death row in Tennessee. 

Pike spent years in solitary confinement until 2024 after successfully suing the prison system. The lawsuit settlement has given her more interaction with women in general population, the ability to earn opportunities the death row men have access to and work, according to the Death Penalty Information Center and local reporting.  

Chamberlin has said she is considering legal action around the conditions of her confinement. 

She said she will continue to speak out, including with reporters, even after what she went through earlier this year. Chamberlin said she has been told to keep quiet, but she has reached a point where she wants to advocate for herself and connect with others, whether that’s through interviews, writing or conversation. 

Since the renewed attention of Chamberlin’s prison conditions, she said she met with the women’s prison superintendent about easing some of the restrictions and restoring some of her privileges. 

But Chamberlin isn’t sure whether the changes will happen because she was told the prison doesn’t have the necessary staffing to escort her out of her building to places such as the chapel and the garden. Because of her custody status, only supervisory staff could escort herr, Chamberlin said. 

“It hasn’t happened,” she said.  “I don’t think it will until I make them make me a priority.” 

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article