Meek Mill might have one of the sweetest bail setups of all time.
The rapper, barely a week out of prison, traveled from Philadelphia to cheer on his beloved 76ers team in a losing effort to the Celtics in Boston on Thursday night. But it was curious how he managed to pull that off, seeing that people who are bailed out of prison typically have strict conditions for their release – chief among them not being allowed to travel out of state.
His courtside appearance at TD Garden was all the more of a head-scratcher when you factor in how just hours earlier Meek Mill gave an impassioned speech, saying, “I’m still not a free man.”
There is actually no mention of any provision that would prevent someone who was bailed out of prison from traveling across state lines, according to Pennsylvania’s Title 42 “right to bail” law as written by the state general assembly.
In that same speech above, during which the rapper vowed to work for change for Black people caught up in the criminal justice system, he also said that he was “nervous everyday being on probation.”
According to the Philadelphia Adult Probation & Parole Department, parolees “may not travel outside of Philadelphia without permission from your PO,” or parole officer. Of course Meek sent a special shout-out to his parole officer during his speech Thursday, so clearly she was aware of his whereabouts. But that’s an exception to what is widely seen as a strict rule.
It also begs the larger question: Why is Meek being extended all of this preferential treatment by the same legal system that subjected him to unfair and harsh prison sentencing for a technical, nonviolent violation of the terms of his probation over doing a wheelie on a dirt bike in New York City?
Source: Boston Globe / Getty
However, the combination of Meek’s speech Thursday and the fact that he has the support of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf could mean that the rapper’s visit to Boston was part of his plan to lift up the disenfranchised residents of his city he vowed to help. He also has support from powerful billionaires, like the owner of the 76ers who flew him from prison in his private helicopter and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who feted Meek on the sidelines of Thursday night’s game.
“I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues,” Meek Mill tweeted the day he was released.
Now, if we could only get Kanye West on board with that agenda…
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Meek Mill Will Help Jailed People Of Color
How Probation Violations Became Another Way To Keep Black Men In Prison
Meek Mill’s Bail Terms Seem To Be Really Enviable, But He’s Still Nervous was originally published on newsone.com
