News came out today that Meek Mill would have a bail hearing on November 27 regarding his 2-4 year prison sentence. The catch is that the same judge who sentenced him will be conducting this hearing.
Jay Z published an article in the New York Times about how the criminal justice system in America stalks Meek Mill and other black men in America. He brought up points about how Meek has been on probation since 19 and ever since then, the system has been preying upon Meek to slip up in the slightest way and this correlates to other black men being sentenced to prison for minor crimes.
“What’s happening to Meek Mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day. I saw this up close when I was growing up in Brooklyn during the 1970s and 1980s.”(Via New York Times)
Hov also elaborated on the fact that Philadelphia residents will pay large amounts of taxes to keep Meek incarcerated.
“Taxpayers in Philadelphia, Meek Mill’s hometown, will have to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year to keep him locked up, and I bet none of them would tell you his imprisonment is helping to keep them safer. He’s there because of arrests for a parole violation, and because a judge overruled recommendations by a prosecutor and his probation officer that he doesn’t deserve more jail time. That’s why I stopped my show in Dallas last week to talk about Meek.”
Jay Z also addressed that the sentencing was inappropriate due to charges that were brought against Meek this year being dropped. Charges for an altercation in St. Louis were dropped along with popping a wheelie on a motorcycle in New York in August.
“It’s time we highlight the random ways people trapped in the criminal justice system are punished every day. The system treats them as a danger to society, consistently monitors and follows them for any minor infraction — with the goal of putting them back in prison.”
Hov highlighted the statistic from 2015 that one-third of the 4.65 million Americans at that time who were on parole or probation were black. This statistic serves true for a very corrupt justice system in our country. Black males between the ages of 20-34 are incarcerated while white males in America continue to avoid jail or prison time for heinous acts such as rape, murder, and hate crimes.