Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, And Roc Nation Accuse Parchman Prison Of Neglecting Inmates And Violating COVID-19 Guidelines

Jay-Z, Yo Gotti and Roc Nation are accusing Parchman prison of violating COVID-19 guidelines.

Complex Media reports that Yo Gotti, Jay-Z, and the Roc Nation company have filed legal documents highlighting the inhumane conditions that prisoners are forced to live under at Mississippi State Penitentiary, which is also known as #ParchmanFarm.

This week, the two businessmen and the social justice organization sent in documents that detailed the prison’s negligence in protecting inmates against the #Coronavirus. The duo and their attorneys claim that since July 30, 2020, only 132 out of the 2,034 inmates have been tested for the virus. One person died last week from the disease, and about 33 percent of the tests that have been done on inmates came back positive.

The team states that if it weren’t for Parchman’s below-average COVID-19 safety measures and unclean establishment, there wouldn’t be such a high infection rate and virus-related deaths. The team is now urging the State of Mississippi to protect inmates with more screenings and better coronavirus safety measures, TMZ reports.

Complex obtained documents that showed Parchman allegedly moved three inmates to different units occupied by other people before the three men could get their COVID-19 test results back. They were allegedly moved in with inmates who were suspected of not having contracted the disease, and the three men learned after that they had tested positive. Personnel claimed they didn’t know until after the transfer was done; Jay, Gotti, and Roc Nation say the prison personnel acted carelessly.

Roc Nation’s lawyers claim Parchman workers do not “verbally screen attorney visitors, and did not screen staff at the entrance to the facility.” The team went on to say that some of the prison employees don’t always abide by COVID-19 protocols, including wearing protective equipment. The group also noted that inmates were also left in the dark about the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ copay waiver, which includes a variety of promises the Mississippi Department of Corrections made to inmates along with prison staff, regarding their protecting during the pandemic. The team claims that inmates who have wanted to speak out about the waiver have been physically threatened and silenced.

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“It’s a travesty that Parchman continues to neglect the lives of the people in their prisons and expose them to the deadly COVID-19 virus. Not only are they failing to comply with the basic COVID-19 prevention and testing protocols, but they’re recklessly spreading the virus within the prison by housing infected people with healthy ones. We even have concerns that our attorneys may have been exposed while visiting Parchman, which is why we’re calling for immediate transparency and stricter compliance,” said Team ROC attorney Marcy Croft.