The conditions of a Mississippi prison were so awful that Jay-Z and Yo Gotti joined forces to file a lawsuit on behalf of the inmates housed there. A second lawsuit has been filed, putting pressure on officials at the prison to address the long list of issues and concerns that plague the facility.

As reported by CBS News, the lawsuit against the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman was filed on Wednesday (Feb. 25) details the “barbaric” conditions of the prison. According to the suit’s notes, prisoners claim that they have to treat their own injuries, insert catheters without assistance, and are denied medicine to treat conditions such as seizures.

“The conditions of confinement at Parchman are so barbaric, the deprivation of health and mental health care so extreme, and the defects in security so severe, that the people confined at Parchman live a miserable and hopeless existence confronted daily by imminent risk of substantial harm in violation of their rights afforded by the U.S. Constitution,” the complaint reads in part.

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter and Yo Gotti, born Mario Mims, also took out full-page ads in the New York Times and the Clarion-Ledger to publish an open letter towards Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, part of which can be read below.

From the open letter:

There have been nearly two-dozen senseless deaths since December 29th, along with countless injuries and untold cases of mental and physical terrorism inflicted upon the inmates. Given those tragedies, if you don’t act decisively, Parchman will soon be the site of a human catastrophe the likes of which the United States hasn’t seen in a generation.

And so we call on you again, even more loudly and urgently: shut down this facility—which has become a shameful symbol of society’s moral decay—until it is safe for the inmates and the prison staff.

—

Photo: Getty

Source: HipHopWired.com

Click Here to Discuss in the Forums