JAY-Z, Yo Gotti and Team Roc alleges Mississippi State Penitentiary is noncompliant with COVID-19 guidelines
JAY-Z, Yo Gotti and Team Roc are calling for stricter protocols at Parchman Farm.
Yo Gotti, JAY-Z and Roc Nation’s philanthropic organization Team Roc have filed some more legal documents in their ongoing legal battle with Mississippi State Penitentiary aka Parchman Farm.
For months, the rappers have set out to highlight the inhumane conditions and treatment of inmates at the facility. In their latest attempt, they accuse the staff of failing to comply with coronavirus guidelines, thus exposing inmates to the virus.
According to JAY, Gotti and their attorneys, 132 out of 2,034 inmates were tested for COVID-19; 33 percent of the prisoners were positive, one of whom recently passed.
Legal documents also detail an instance where three individuals who were awaiting their results were transferred to different units among inmates suspected to be COVID-free. The three men later discovered they’d contracted the virus. JAY, Gotti and Team Roc claim the infected men were to be quarantined until their tests results were confirmed, not exposed to other people.
Furthermore, the rappers’ attorneys argue that the employees’ recklessness displays itself in their failure to screen attorney visitors and staff, wear protective gear and cater to individuals with health issues. They also did not inform inmates of the copay waiver for COVID diagnoses.
JAY, Gotti and Team Roc are requesting that the State of Mississippi implement and enforce stricter protocols regarding screening, quarantine and other coronavirus preventative measures.
“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,” Team Roc attorney Marcy Croft said. “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.”