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| The founding partners of "Reform Alliance": (L-R) Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Robert Kraft, Michael Rubin, Meek Mill, Michael E. Novogratz, Clara Wu Tsai, Daniel S. Loeb and Reform Alliance CEO Van Jones |
Musician Meek Mill's voice is a familiar sound in the hip-hop world, but now he wants to use it for another purpose:
to change the criminal justice system.
Flanked by a group of very high-profile supporters, including Jay-Z and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, Mill announced the launch of the Reform Alliance.
"I've been on probation since the age of 18. I'm 31 years old," Mill said.
In 2017, Mill was sentenced to serve two to four years in state prison for a minor probation violation after a decade-old gun and drug possession conviction.
After public protests and legal appeals, he was released after serving five months.
"Every time I started to further my life… every year or two there was always something that brought me back to ground zero and that was probation.
I always wondered what happened to the people that was in situations worse than mine," Mill said.
"I'm here to speak for the people who don't have a voice." According to the Reform Alliance, 4.5 million people – like Mill – are currently on parole or probation for unreasonable terms.
"I'm from Marcy Projects, I'm from Brooklyn, and this has been a part of my life," Jay-Z said.
"If someone commits a crime, they should go to jail.
But these things are just disproportionate and the whole world knows it."
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