Jay-Z & Yo Gotti File Lawsuits For 152 Inmates Against Mississippi DOC

Just last month we saw Team ROC, the prison reform initiative backed by JAY-Z and Yo Gotti, share a video of the insanely gruesome conditions happening within the Mississippi prison system. It looks like they aren’t backing down anytime soon either, as the Roc Nation entity has filed a second civil lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections on behalf of 152 inmates.

Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Roc Nation

Team ROC’s fight for change within the prison system isn’t a new one at all, with Yo Gotti seen in the photo above showing love for the “Free Meek Mill” movement back in 2017 at Jay-Z’s 4:44 Tour stop in Philadelphia. Given the serious conditions that prisoners are going through at Mississippi State Penitentiary, also sometimes referred to as Parchman Farm, it makes perfect sense why they’re doubling down on the suit. 18 inmates have already  reportedly died throughout Mississippi’s correctional system, mainly due to food contaminated with rat feces and cockroaches or not getting the proper medical care for health issues like cancer and serious heart defects, according to an official Team ROC press release.

Jay-Z originally filed the first suit back in January according to BBC News, with efforts to bring awareness to 29 prisoners forced to “live in squalor” and other life-threatening conditions. In this most recent follow-up, Hov, Gotti and Team ROC are requesting on behalf of a total of now 152 inmates to get the court to maintain jurisdiction of Parchman until the DOC can assure the environment is safe and stable overall.

Watch the new PSA that Team ROC released below, but we warn you that some images in the video may be hard to view: