Rapper Meek Mill wiped away tears as he spoke at a signing ceremony for the probation reform bill in Pennsylvania on Friday, saying the new law would help ex-convicts like him lead a normal life after prison .
“We all grew up on the streets. We tried to be better, but they labeled us ‘criminals’ and sent us back to jail,” said Mill, 36, breathing heavily.
“I had to fight against that all the time, to earn respect and be who I am today. And I’m proud of that.”
The criminal justice reforms, signed into law Thursday by Gov. Josh Shapiro, include limiting the length of parole, hiding more criminal records from public view, requiring parole reviews after at least two years and create incentives, rather than punishments, for ex- cons upon returning to their lives.
The law also reduces a list of minor technical violations for nonviolent offenders that previously would have landed them in jail, such as being late for appointments, returning home after curfew, leaving the state without permission or failing to pay fines that they did not. they can. to pay.
Rapper Meek Mill became emotional as he recalled his struggles to stay out of prison due to technical issues while on parole. AP
Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, helped lead the reform charge after spending most of his adult life on probation following a 2008 conviction on drug and weapons charges.
He was initially sentenced to five years of probation after serving seven months in prison, but was repeatedly returned behind bars and given longer probation terms for violating his probation, many of which were for minor technical violations.
One of those rapes earned Mill a two- to four-year prison sentence in 2017, of which he only served five months, prompting him to use his story to “shed light” on the criminal justice system.
“Every time I crossed the Ben Franklin [Bridge] When I went to pick up my mom to take my son to school in New Jersey, I was actually committing crimes the entire time for technical violations. And I had no way to avoid it because he was already in jail when he was 20 years old,” said the president of Dream Chasers Records, increasingly excited.
Mill has been in and out of prison since he was first arrested on gun charges in 2008. AP
“My son saw me in prison and wanted to take him to school. So I thought: either I’m going to go to jail or I’m going to take my son to school and I ended up taking my son to school.”
Mill was finally pardoned in 2023, 15 years after his criminal saga began.
Despite the reforms, according to the ACLU, judges can still “stack” probation sentences and impose probation after incarceration under the new law. who accused the bill of not providing an automatic or efficient way to end probation early.
Probation is required to end unless the defendant commits a crime that shows he or she is a threat to public safety, has failed to complete certain treatment, or has failed to pay restitution under some circumstances.
With publication wires
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Source: vtt.edu.vn