Meek Mill Wants Everyone to Vote More
He called into ‘CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.’
On Monday night, April 16, Meek Mill called CNN Tonight with Don Lemon from prison to talk about his case and justice reform. Meek is currently in jail serving a two-to-four-year sentence for probation violations. “The most important thing I want to say is vote. When it’s time to vote for governor, when it’s time to vote for judges, D.A.s, vote,” the rapper said. “Let’s vote for people that’s into justice reform and helping the urban community. ‘Cause, you know, we’re being affected by it but we’re not voting.”
Meek pointed to the recent Starbucks controversy in his hometown, Philadelphia, as an example of an incident that could land someone who’s on probation back in jail. Last weekend, a Starbucks store manager called police on two black men who were waiting for a friend inside the store.
“If I would have gotten locked up… just for sitting in Starbuck by mistake, and got a technical violation, legally, a judge would be able to sentence me to two to four years, three to six years, five to 10 years just for having police contact,” Mill said. “A lot of people, they get locked up for technical violations and stuff like that, and they lose a job and they lose family, their kids.”
Mayor Jim Kenney and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe, and District Attorney Krasner have all advocated for Meek Mill’s release but the rapper has been denied bail twice. Meek’s legal team filed a request for Judge Genece Brinkley’s dismissal from the case and are appealing the recent bail denial with the state’s Supreme Court. Most recently, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and entrepreneur Michael Rubin stopped by State Correctional Institution-Chester in Pennsylvania to personally visit the incarcerated rapper and show their support.