Jay-Z’s Advocacy Causes Justice Department To Find Prison’s Conditions Unlawful

Jay-Z is one of the most influential rappers to ever enter the game. The Big Pimpin’ rapper has grown into a true business mogul over the years. Along with his wife, Beyonce, Jay-Z has remained a true icon of the culture. After many people died in the state’s custody, the Roc Nation rep took action.

For years, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Mario “Yo Gotti” Mim, as well as Roc Nation’s social justice section, Team Roc, have raised awareness about the deplorable circumstances in Mississippi State Penitentiary. The hip-hop moguls’ efforts aided in the launch of a federal investigation into the Parchman Farm detention institution.

The US Department of Justice announced recently that there is substantial grounds to believe that conditions and procedures at the Mississippi State Penitentiary violate the US Constitution’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Those infractions include failure to provide adequate mental health treatment, failure to take sufficient suicide prevention measures, subjecting people to prolonged isolation in solitary confinement, and failure to protect incarcerated people from violence by other incarcerated people are just a few of the violations cited by the DOJ.

Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez recently said: “On behalf of Team Roc, we are pleased to see the Department of Justice recognize the horrific conditions in Mississippi’s prisons. Because of the inhumane conditions, we filed lawsuits in Mississippi to help protect the men living inside the infamous Parchman prison. For years, the incarcerated population has been forced to live inside rat-infested conditions and survive with a water system contaminated with human feces all with non-existent healthcare resources available to them. Over the past three years, the death toll has been utterly devastating and we hope today’s report brings many families and their loved ones one step closer toward getting the justice they deserve. We applaud the Department of Justice for their report.

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Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, and Team Roc engaged lawyers to represent inmates in a lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections in early 2020. Five people died in the state’s prisons during the course of a month, prompting the legal action. Attorneys and medical professionals working with Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, and Team Roc later that year discovered Parchman’s unclean and dangerous condition.

Inmates were subjected to foul-smelling water, crumbling facilities, flooded flooring, exposed wires, and other deplorable conditions, according to video and images. Furthermore, the public pressure exerted by Jay and Gotti prompted the Centene healthcare firm to end its multimillion-dollar agreement with Parchman and the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

During the epidemic, the Roc Nation artists had to force Parchman officials to follow strict COVID-19 testing and compliance rules. The inquiry against Parchman Farm by the Justice Department began in February 2020. The Southern Mississippi Correctional Institution, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, and the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility are all under investigation.

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