JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- Young people at two Mississippi reform schools were hogtied, shackled and forced to eat their own vomit, according to a U.S. Justice Department report.
Young people aged 10-17 are sent to the training schools, overseen by DHS, after facing repeated charges for property crimes or mostly low-level offenses.
The report released Monday said suicidal girls at Columbia were sometimes stripped naked and put in isolation in a poorly ventilated "dark room" with only a hole in the floor for a toilet.
The report said boys were forced to run around tables for hours with mattresses on their backs.
"Girls are punished in the military field by being forced to run with automobile tires around their bodies or carrying logs," the report said. "Girls reported being forced to eat their own vomit if they throw up from exercising in the hot sun."
Thanks to Tammera Halphen for this news tip!