JAY-Z’s social justice division Team ROC is finally starting to see some results two years after beginning its fight for reform at Mississippi’s Parchman Penitentiary.
After Yo Gotti, JAY-Z and Team ROC filed multiple suits against the prison and its healthcare provider Centene, the team has since secured legal representation for more than 200 inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Per Billboard, the division’s multiple suits caught the attention of the U.S. Justice Department, who was obligated to investigate inhumane conditions at the penitentiary.
The U.S. Justice Department then issued a report on Wednesday (April 20) confirming “Mississippi routinely violates the constitutional rights of people incarcerated at Parchmen,” and has moved to provide “the state of Mississippi with written notice of the supporting facts for these findings and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address them.”
“Based upon a thorough investigation [which began in February 2020], there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions and practices at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman) violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,” the DOJ wrote in their report.
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Yo Gotti added, “My heart goes out to the incarcerated men who have suffered without access to clean water, food and healthcare and the families that tragically lost loved ones in the process. I will continue to stand up for the voiceless until they receive the justice they deserve. I’m grateful for the U.S. Department of Justice’s thorough report to hold the Mississippi Department of Corrections accountable for the cruel and inhumane treatment of the incarcerated population.”
Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez said in a statement, “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.”
She continued, “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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The filing comes after the A&E Network greenlit a four-part docu-series titled ExposingParchmen in February that will follow the philanthropic branch, the inmates and rap stars as they take on the fight to reform the corrupt Mississippi Department of Corrections. A release date for the docu-series has yet to be announced.
