After Meek Mill goes free, supporters focus on criminal justice reform

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Now that rapper Meek Mill has negotiated a deal, pleading guilty to a single weapons charge, he is a free man and no longer under state supervision. However, his supporters are not done yet. Their focus is on changing the system they say trapped Mill for years. 

At a rally outside of the Criminal Justice Center this morning, Mill expressed gratitude to more than 100 demonstators gathered outside the courthouse on Tuesday, acknowleding that the problems he suffered over 12 years in the criminal justice system are bigger than him.

"I just wanted to come up here myself and thank all the supporters, " he said. "Y'all probably got family members in jail and people going through the same things as me."

He pledged to continue pushing to change the probation and parole system. His group, Reform Alliance, backed by businessman Michael Rubin and entertainer Jay-Z, has raised $50 million for criminal justice reform and has promised to free 1 million people stuck in the system over the next five years. 

Mill's struggles shined a light on problems with long probation and parole terms — and the revolving door to prison that traps millions of Americans.

The group is pushing Pennsylvania House Bill 1555 and Senate Bill 14, which would put a cap on probation terms and limit reincarceration for technical violations in Pennsylvania. 

"It doesn't matter who the people are in the system. If the system is broken, it's going to give a broke product," said Pa. State Rep. Jordan Harris, one of the lead sponsors of the House legislation. "I think we have a great shot of moving this to the governor's desk."

"When the president signed criminal just reform about a year ago, it sent a signal," he said. "We're in a much better situation now than at any point in history to get this done."

Jones says momentum is building and change is coming.

"We need to reform the criminal justice system because people change and cities change and systems sometimes need to change," said District Attorney Larry Krasner.

Krasner released a list of about two dozen officers in February 2018, less than four months after Mill was thrown in jail. The list identified some cops DAs refused to call to testify based on past bad acts. 
And Reginald Graham, the officer who arrested Mill over a decade ago in South Philadelphia, was on the list.
 
While Krasner refused to comment on whether other cases involving Graham will be reopened, he says his job is to seek justice.

"And if that means that we have to look at other activity by an officer whose credibility is now questioned even though it wasn't questioned in the past... that is the kind of thing that we will do," he said.