Jay-Z & Yo Gotti's Attorneys Expose Inhumane Conditions At Mississippi's Parchman Prison

(AllHipHop News) Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims are supporting the legal fight of more than 150 individuals incarcerated at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. There have been complaints that the prison, also known as Parchman Farm, is unsanitary and dangerous.

Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger newspaper published findings from an assessment of the facility conducted by attorneys and medical experts working with Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, and Team Roc which is Roc Nation’s philanthropic arm. Photographs taken inside Parchman showed the horrid conditions the men were forced to endure.

https://twitter.com/teamroc/status/1221985264014446593

As part of lawsuits filed against the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Commissioner Pelicia Hall, and Superintendent Marshal Turner, a judge approved of Team Roc’s Parchman investigation in February. Some of the findings include:

Men incarcerated at Parchman resort to threats of self-harm, flooding cells and setting fires to seek help for severely injured and sick residents — including a diabetic patient who didn’t receive insulin for three days and a man who was urinating blood, according to court filings.

Oftentimes food comes undercooked, or spoiled, covered in insects or rat feces, if delivered at all. Water that inmates drink and use to wash their clothes is brown and foul-smelling.
At Parchman, officers allegedly provided gang-affiliated inmates with keys and weapons so they can assault or kill members of a rival gang, one plaintiff-hired expert, Dr. Madeleine LaMarre wrote.
Some cells had no running water and people were forced to urinate or defecate in plastic bags.

Several inmates described no follow-up appointments, even for symptoms that could be signs of serious conditions such as colon cancer, tuberculosis and a brain tumor.
Inmates claim access to consistent and competent medical care is hampered by a corrupt and indifferent system. Men reportedly frequently have trouble obtaining sick call slips needed to request appointments because the supply runs out. Oftentimes it can take several days for the patient to be seen, if at all. Guards regularly fail to transport men to their doctor’s appointments, resulting in treatment being delayed. Some people claim officers charge unofficial transportation fees of up to $150.

Since December 2019, at least 54 people have died while in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The U.S. Department of Justice is said to be investigating the state’s prison system.