Meek Mill is seeing firsthand the impact of his advocacy with the Reform Alliance. On Friday, the rap star joined Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during a press conference after the governor signed SB838, a new prison reform bill that would limit prison terms and prevent return to prison for minor violations.
Mill reflected on the fact that every time he drove from New York to New Jersey to pick up his son for school during his probationary period, he was “committing a crime the whole time because of technical violations.”
“I thought I'm either going to jail and I'm going to take my son to school and I ended up taking my son to school, so I want to thank you guys here today. I don't want to get emotional because it's a lot,” Mill said before stopping to gather himself and wipe away his tears. “We all grew up on the streets and were trying to be better, but they labeled us criminals and sent us back to prison. I had to fight against it all the time to earn my respect and be who I am today and I'm proud of it.”
“I'm not even in tears, but I want to say this because there are many young men who follow me on the streets: They don't really know what I go through to be in these places with government officials and change my life,” he added. “I didn't ask for this position… It's not for influence, it's something I stand for and live for.”
Friday's special moment came nearly a year after former Gov. Tom Wolf pardoned Mill, who had served eight months in prison in 2008 after being convicted of drug and gun charges.
In 2012, Mill was arrested for suspected marijuana use. The arrest reportedly cost him tens of thousands of dollars he would have earned from the Atlanta concert and cost him a significant amount of money in an endorsement deal with Puma, which dropped the amount it wanted to pay him from $2 million to $650,000 $, according to The Questioner.
He was placed under house arrest in 2016 for violating his sentence and was arrested again in 2017 after he was caught jumping wheelies without wearing a helmet on Instagram Live. He was charged with felony reckless endangerment, though the charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor. He then went to prison later that year for violating his probation.
In 2019, Mill had his 2008 conviction overturned and faced a new trial by a different judge.
Mill founded a non-profit organization, Reform Allianceto help “transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and prosperity” in 2019. The organization aims to impact probation laws, which often become a conduit for the return of former prisoners in prison.
