US rappers Jay-Z and Meek Mill co-founded an organization dedicated to judicial reform. They want to achieve that probation conditions are relaxed. In the US, crimes can result in long-term suspended sentences. Anyone who violates the strict conditions may have to go to prison for years.
Critics complain that this is unjust and mainly hits the black population. "The communities we grew up in. Friends I have, people around me, I grew up on this issue," Jay-Z said at a news conference in New York.
The idea for the initiative came to the creators after a controversial imprisonment for Meek Mill. He had been sentenced in 2008 for drug trafficking and possession of firearms to a prison term. After his release, he violated probation.
AP
Rapper Meek Mill on the way to the court in Philadelphia in November 2017
According to the New York Times, the judge named the following violations: He had arbitrarily scheduled concert dates, in areas where he was forbidden. In addition, he is said to have been involved in a scuffle with an airport employee, but the allegations have been dropped. After all, he drove "Wheelies" in New York to shoot a music video on his bike. A maneuver that only drives on the rear wheels.
A judge in Philadelphia condemned the musician in November 2017 to a prison sentence of two to four years. After criticism, Mill was released on bail after five months. His probation runs until 2023.
The organization "Reform" wants to lobbying, it is converted for 44 million euros available. The aim is to support around one million people over the next five years.