Meek Mill Wants to End the Probation Trap
Teases docuseries and philanthropic foundation to come
Since his late-April release for a reported probation violation, Meek Mill’s mission has been to reshape the criminal justice system for those who lack the same resources he has in his back pocket. To begin that process, the “Pray For ‘Em” rapper teamed up with Philadelphia 76ers’ co-owner, Michael Rubin, to launch a foundation.
According to Bleacher Report, the pair will also call on other “big people” to lend their voices and resources to reform America’s law rubric into a fair system. “We think we can launch what will be the most impactful foundation within criminal justice reform and create a movement,” Rubin said.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of the 30-year-old recording artist after he had been sentenced to 4 years behind bars for a parole violation, stemming from a gun and drug conviction he received at age 19. Just over one week after Meek Mill was released from a state correctional institution in Chester, Pennsylvania, Amazon Prime Video announced that they will be teaming up with the rapper for a documentary about his fight for exoneration and systemic flaws in the country’s criminal justice system.
The rapper was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence. Now, at age 30, he has been on probation for over a decade, technically his entire adult life.
While details on the foundation’s concrete purpose and plan of action are still being fleshed out, Meek and Rubin believe their assistance will be beneficial no matter the roadblocks. “You know, there’s people that’s locked behind the walls, caught up in the darkness, who don’t have the support,” Meek said to the website. “So I hope that we get people behind them like myself. And we stand up for people that’s caught up in the system that don’t belong there.”
Since his release, Mill has spoken out about the need for reform. He noted Thursday that in Philadelphia even coming in contact with the police can trigger a technical violation for probation.
Sadly, there’s much about the parole trap Americans don’t understand. The criminal justice system extends long after someone has served their time. The highly supervised, greasy tightrope parolees must walk lasts for years, sometimes decades with no reprieve.
“Most of us could not live under the rules of parole because there are too many of them,” according to Fischer of justice reform organization FiveThirtyEight.
Parole restrictions in Pennsylvania are particularly hefty. The state had the second-largest number of parolees since 2012, behind only Texas — 101,351 people in 2012, according to the BJS.
Some restrictions seem practical (“complying with all laws”), while others seem far more theoretical than practical to follow (“abandon evil associates”). Other times, they run counter to mainstream culture; states including Kansas, Kentucky and Hawaii prevent parolees from drinking alcohol and going into bars. Also, enforcement of these rules varies from parole agent to parole agent. A recent study by the Columbia University Justice Lab found Pennsylvania had about 296,000 people on probation and parole, the third highest rate in the country.
States contend with the high cost of incarceration by using parole to cut costs, but as states attempt to reduce their prison populations, and as the number of parolees grows — now up to more than 851,000 people nationally — advocates are increasingly concerned that parole rules can be too restrictive for the average parolee, making it too easy to end up behind bars again for technical violations.
Violation standards like most legislation, reflect our unspoken and uninformed beliefs — generally, that we consider ourselves to be far more law abiding than we truly are.
More than half of drivers say they keep up with faster, often speeding traffic. About 660,000 people admitted to using a cellphone while driving in 2011, which potentially breaks the law in at least 44 states
Moving from an approved residence — In Pennsylvania, the most common technical violation brought to a hearing last year was moving from an approved residence. Of the more than 3,300 people who had their parole revoked last year, almost half moved without permission according to the parole board.
The conditions you’ve signed prohibit you from driving a car without permission, ban you from going out after curfew, and forbid you from drinking alcohol or going into a bar, even for non-drug related charges. 92% of parole violations include alcohol prohibition, it’s a typical add-on in states across the country.
In addition, even contact with law enforcement is a violation of parole in many states. This means that something as simple as a broken tail light spotted by an officer, could land a parolee back behind bars.
So, why would someone ever violate their parole conditions?
The same reason people leave lights on when they leave a room, neglect their laundry from time to time — human error. We cannot honestly equate ‘technical’ violations with serious offenses or risks to public safety.
Parole violation and its many arbitrary forms ensure 1 in 3 adults will have repeated encounters with the criminal justice system.
It is dangerous to our democracy, because it functions on the idea of an ‘honor’ system, and that time can be served to compensate for wrongdoing — if, instead we are sentenced to parole, then in fact, we can never really complete our ‘time’ or pay our ‘debt’ — we are forever punished.
@thesimonecherie is a published author and opinion contributor for Libertarian magazine OUTSET Network
