While YNW Melly is in jail waiting for his retrial, his lawyers are asking for him to be freed right away. His lawyer, Michael A. Pizzi Jr., filed a 12-page case against the Brown Sheriff’s Office earlier this week, according to AllHipHop. In it, he says that the rapper is being held in cruel conditions. It is said that this includes being locked up alone for about three years without being able to visit or call anyone.

The conditions Melly is being kept in are called cruel and strange in the plea. Pizzi Jr. says they are breaking Melly’s rights under the first, fifth, sixth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments. He also says that Melly’s lawyers have had trouble getting in touch with him. This is said to include not being allowed to enter and having to wait for hours, among other things.

The petition also talks about an event that happened in April 2022, when another prisoner allegedly lied and said Melly was trying to escape. According to reports, this caused Melly to have even fewer ways to talk to people and his cell to be completely searched. Pizzi Jr. says, “These restrictions are not based on any real security concerns; instead, they are punitive measures meant to hurt Melly’s mental health and make it harder for him to prepare for his trial.” “These harsh rules don’t apply to any prisoners who aren’t black.” ​