Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Lawsuit Dropped After Officials Clean up Mississippi’s Parchman Prison

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Conditions at the notorious Parchman Prison in Mississippi have “substantially improved” since Jay-Z, a hip-hop star and business mogul, filed a lawsuit demanding better conditions for the thousands of people who are locked up there. The superstar’s management company, Roc Nation, said that it would drop its lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections now that the maximumsecurity prison for men has been greatly improved. In a statement, attorney Jordan Siev, a partner at Reed Smith LLP in New York who works with Roc Nation, said, “We are happy with the changes that have been made so far and the improvements in the day-to-day lives of the guys inside.” “But we’re also aware that Parchman has a long history of lawsuits, improvements, and then conditions that get worse again,” Siev added. The Jackson, Mississippi, newspaper Clarion Ledger says that the Justice Department started looking into Parchman in 2020 after watchdog groups said there was more violent crime, less control over gangs, and living conditions that were less than human. Built on an old slave plantation, Parchman is said to have broken numerous constitutional statutes. Leaked cell phone footage from inside the prison at the start of the coronavirus pandemic showed that inmates were living in places that were flooded, full of bugs, and full of rats. Mold was everywhere in the building, and the food was often rotten or, at the very least, unhealthy. In 2020, Daniele

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. (NNPA Photo)