Hip hop star, Jay-Z has recently launched an action through his Team Roc nation to take actions against US prison officials who have put at risk, the lives of 29 inmates in Mississippi’s prison. It is reported that his lawyers are to take legal action against the officers who put the men’s lives ” in peril” due to “understaffing and neglect”
The new year saw the death of five inmates killed unjustly during the attacks in the state’s prisons.
The prison has been referred to “where violence reigns” and an “unthinkable” spate of deaths.
The prison at Parchman has been described as a household for mice and rats, subject to black mould and flooding, thereby endangering the physical and mental health of the inmates.
The subjection of the inmates to such dehumanising living also prompted the issuance of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the inmates and an order forcing the Mississippi Department of Corrections to take action.
In response to the case filed on Tuesday by Jay-Z’s lawyer Alex Spiro in the US District Court in Greenville, Mississippi, against the MDOC, Its spokesperson said it “does not discuss pending litigation”.
The action, filed follows a letter sent last week to the state’s governor Phil Bryant and Commissioner Hall.
It is stated in the letter that the “Roc Nation and its philanthropic arm, Team Roc, demand that Mississippi take immediate steps to remedy this intolerable situation.”
