When Jay-Z’s Team Roc, the social justice arm of the rap mogul’s entertainment company, first filed federal lawsuits in early 2020 on behalf of more than 200 prisoners at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the inmates alleged disgusting conditions: rat feces, cockroaches and bird droppings contaminating their meals; broken lights, toilets and showers in a «perpetual state of systemic failure»; and a deprivation of medical care that required self-treatment of injuries.
The allegations were so alarming that the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched an investigation at the same time into the entire Mississippi prison system in the wake of a series of violent deaths, incarcerations and protests in front of the state capitol to «shut it down», referring to Parchman.
But in recent years, conditions at the prison appear to have improved substantially, enough so that Team Roc last week agreed to dismiss the claims in its lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections, indicating that one of the most vocal critics Parchman’s ferocious forces are now confident that the state’s only maximum-security prison for men appears to be turning a new leaf.
The changes include providing two working ambulances at the Parchman Medical Center, replacing an outdated van; new stainless steel showers, toilets and sinks; upgraded heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and plumbing systems; recreational activities, such as basketball, flag football, and boxing; replacing broken tiles and removing mold; and the opening of kitchen operations in additional units.
«We’re pleased with the changes to date and the improvements to the daily lives of the guys inside,» said attorney Jordan Siev, a partner at Reed Smith LLP in New York who works with Team Roc. «But we are also cognizant of the fact that Parchman has had a long history of lawsuits, improvements and then setback conditions.»
According to a «stipulation to dismiss» filed in Mississippi federal court, the lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice, though Siev said Team Roc’s complaint against the state could be refiled if conditions deteriorate again.
«We’re pleased that improvements have been made to the interior, but we’re not taking our foot off the gas either,» Siev added.
As part of an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit, Siev and other legal representatives were given unrestricted access last week inside Parchman with a film crew. They said they plan to share the images with the Justice Department.
Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, shed light on internal conditions when it released a video on YouTube in 2020 featuring interviews with relatives of people who had died in Mississippi prisons and haunting scenes inside the cells.
In response to a query from NBC News about current conditions, the state Department of Corrections’ legal department said Monday that the agency «appreciates the tremendous responsibility of housing sentenced individuals in our care, custody and control, and will always is committed to continually improving the living conditions of people housed in all of our correctional facilities, including the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.»
The department added: «We have and will continue to make diligent efforts to improve the quality of life for all individuals in MDOC custody and provide them with opportunities to successfully return to their communities. That is our ongoing commitment.»
The state prison crisis had become so acute that Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, announced upon taking office in 2020 that he would close a particular area of Parchman prison known as Unit 29, which housed about 1,000 inmates and had been riddled with health inspection violations, including non-functioning toilets and sinks, missing pillows and mattresses, and no lights.
But that shutdown never actually happened, and NBC affiliate WLBT in Jackson reported last summer that only half of the buildings that make up Unit 29 were ultimately closed, in a section where major disturbances occurred.
«It may have closed where the chaos was, and that’s what we did. It’s closed,» said Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain, who took the role in June 2020, he told the station. «We renovated the showers and some things in the buildings that were not destroyed in the riots.»
Reeves’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Following lawsuits filed by Team Roc on behalf of inmates, a federal judge in July 2020 ordered the Mississippi Department of Corrections to provide the court with a list of all corrective actions taken at Parchman and share them monthly with the plaintiffs. .
In April 2022, the Department of Justice also published the results of your research, finding that there was reasonable cause to believe that conditions in the prison violated the constitutional rights of inmates and contributed to a wave of violence stemming from lack of supervision. Some changes were already in the works under new leadership, the Justice Department said at the time, with the cooperation of state officials.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
State Sen. Juan Barnett, chairman of the Senate Committee on Corrections, who visited Parchman last year, said Monday the changes were encouraging. He said he still waits for lawmakers to address what makes financial sense for Parchman’s future and whether building a new prison is the best option. But, he added, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been pushing criminal justice reform laws to address the relief of the prison population in Mississippi, which has one of the higher rates of incarceration in the U.S.
«Nobody thought that a red state like Mississippi could do that,» Barnett said. «But I don’t think it’s fair that the new commissioner along with the legislative body can be expected to fix these problems overnight.»
However, inmate advocates say leaders must remain held to account.
Rapper Yo Gotti, who joined Jay-Z in penning an open letter to Reeves in 2020 asking him to take action at Parchman, said Monday that more work is needed at an institution that has grappled with a history of inmate abuse, corruption and racial segregation.
«We are pleased that Parchman has begun to address the cruel and inhumane conditions at the prison following the Justice Department’s investigation, but we are not satisfied with short-term improvements,» Gotti, whose real name is Mario Mims, said in a statement. release. . «The Mississippi Department of Corrections has neglected these torturous living conditions for decades, so we will continue to hold them accountable and ensure they are committed to creating lasting change that safely protects their incarcerated population.»