Update: Jay-Z & Yo Gotti Drop Mississippi State Penitentiary Lawsuit After Conditions For Inmates Are Improved

Jay-Z, Yo Gotti

Update: Jay-Z & Yo Gotti Drop Mississippi State Penitentiary Lawsuit After Conditions For Inmates Are Improved

Update: (Jan. 24, 2023): Rappers/businessmen Jay-Z and Yo Gotti have one less legal issue to worry about.

According to reports, Jay-Z and Yo Gotti’s legal counsel at Team Roc (Roc Nation’s philanthropic branch) have dismissed their lawsuit against Mississippi State Penitentiary (aka Parchman Farm) for the ill conditions of the maximum-security prison.

As you may recall, in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jay-Z and Yo Gotti teamed up to call the Mississippi prison out for several fatal stabbings and inmates being forced to live in unsanitary conditions.

Reportedly, since the rappers brought attention to the horrific conditions of the prison, the state has been working diligently to make the needed changes.

Reports claim the previous restrooms, which were crumbling and littered with rat feces, have received new stainless steel showers, toilets, and sinks. New sports facilities for inmates to partake in basketball, flag football, and boxing have been added. In addition, the heating and air conditioning ventilation systems have been upgraded.

As a result, the lawsuit was dismissed, but without prejudice, which means if conditions drop south again the suit can be refiled.

[VIA]

Original story: (Feb. 27, 2020):

The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is facing a second lawsuit from more than 150 inmates thanks to rappers Jay-Z and Yo Gotti. If the request for a class-action lawsuit is approved, there could be roughly 2,700 inmates involved in the lawsuit, according to Clarion Ledger. 

Jay-Z and Yo Gotti, together with their organization Team Roc, filed the lawsuits for the inmates. This one comes just months after they sued on behalf of 29 Unit 29 inmates. Gov. Tate Reeves has since put out an order for that unit to be closed.

Similar to the first one, the new lawsuit claims that the environment at the facility is terrifying and infringes on the inmates’ rights outlined in the constitution.

They said the number of employees is “dangerously deficient” and the facility isn’t even “suitable for animals.”

Jay-Z

They claimed the food is polluted and tainted, and there is a major lack when it comes to mental health resources.

Team Roc has demanded the prison to

“immediately address the barbaric prison conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and develop a plan that will eliminate the health and safety risks for inmates within 90 days.”

The lawsuits against the prisons parked after a series of violence that went on for more than a week. While MDOC said people died because of gang fights, others say it was because of budget cuts, not enough staff and other alleged shortcomings.

Yo Gotti previously said in a statement amid the first lawsuit,

“To see this happen so close to my hometown of Memphis is truly devastating. That’s why we’re calling on Mississippi state leaders to take immediate action and rectify this issue. If they don’t right this wrong, we’re prepared to take legal action to provide relief for those that are incarcerated and their families.”

Jay-Z, Yo Gotti

Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation also released a statement via its lawyer Alex Spiro. 

“We are exploring a variety of civil rights claims and constitutional claims that the prison system and the government is violating the Eighth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.”

“We are exploring a variety of civil rights claims and constitutional claims that the prison system and the government is violating the Eighth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.”

“As the prison system continues to incarcerate more and more people, predominantly African American people down in Mississippi, the prison system becomes more crowded, more underfunded and more inhumane and you know what you see now is a system at its breaking point.”

What are your thoughts on the second lawsuit? Tell us in the comments.