Meek Mill Released From Prison
Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Meek Mill left prison yesterday as a free man because the cop who arrested him on gun and drug charges in 2009 is one of 29 cops so corrupt that the DA won’t even call them to the stand.
He left as a free man because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with prosecutors who recommended a new trial.
He left as a free man, most of all because America’s criminal justice system is designed to favor the rich. And since Meek Mill has billionaire friends who were willing to go to bat for him, since Meek Mill had a legal team that could appeal to the state’s highest court, since Meek Mill had a PR machine that brilliantly fought for his cause, the system worked in his favor.
And that’s great for Meek Mill. I just hope it’s great for the rest of us.
Because after we finish cheering Meek’s legal victory, 2.2 million people will still be rotting away in American prisons. They’ll still be disproportionately black, and overwhelmingly poor. Because resources matter in America, and if you don’t have them, and you get arrested, your name won’t be on buses, your story won’t be on the news, the mayor won’t come to see you, and you won’t be ringing no bell.
In a system designed to protect the interests of the rich, those without money are the victims, and most of the time, they’re black.
So I’m pulling for Meek Mill because he now has the platform and the voice to explain that systemic racism isn’t always about the white man. Sometimes it’s about a black judge who works in a racist system and locks brothers up because she can. Sometimes it’s about a black cop who backs up his subordinates when they lock up brothers for nothing. Sometimes it’s about a black politician who watches this mess and says nothing. Sometimes it’s about a black community too tired to fight for what’s right.
That’s why Meek’s release matters. He has the power to tell our kids that the system can look like them. He has the power to tell our kids that it’s best to avoid arrest.
I only hope he uses that power to lift our community up because as much as we’d like to think that Meek Mill learned his lesson from all this, the people who really need the lessons … are us.
Cosby Jury Begins Deliberation
Source: AFP / Getty
Deliberations are underway at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, PA. Judge Steven O’Neill told jurors that “the sole judges of the facts.”
The jury of five women and seven men will decide the comedian’s fate on three charges of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. Constand, a former Temple University employee, said she lost consciousness after Cosby gave her three blue pills and a sip of wine and came to with him sexually assaulting her in January 2004 at his Philadelphia-area mansion.
If convicted, Cosby could face up to 10 years for each count, though prison sentences for similar crimes tend to run concurrently in Pennsylvania.
Judge Orders Reopening Of DACA, Following 90-Day Delay
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CNN- Another federal judge has overruled the Trump administration’s plans to end a popular immigration program, this time saying the government has to accept new applications.
The ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, however, won’t take immediate effect, with the judge delaying the ruling for 90 days to allow the administration to make its case in a new memo justifying the end of the program.
In September, the administration defended ending the program by saying it was likely to fall in the courts anyway, arguing a six-month wind-down of the program would be more orderly than a sudden end brought by the courts. No court has found DACA to be unconstitutional
