Rapper Meek Mill teamed up with REFORM Alliance and others to bring holiday cheer to many Philadelphia households. The “All Eyes On You” rapper and REFORM paid to bail out 20 women at the Riverside Correctional Facility and only five of them were released on Friday, Dec. 22, in time for Christmas.
“It was devastating for me to be away from my son during the holidays when I was incarcerated, so I understand what these women and their families are going through,” Mill said in a comment posted on REFORM’s Instagram page.
He continued, “No one should have to spend the holidays in jail simply because they can’t afford bail. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help these women be with their families and loved ones during this special time of year.”
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In addition to being released, the women were given gift cards to assist them with paying for groceries or gifts.
“For families impacted by the criminal justice system, the holidays can be an extremely challenging time,” he added.
Mill is very familiar with being incarcerated since he was jailed for eight months due to a gun possession charge in 2008. He spent several months in jail between 2014 and 2017 for minor offenses. But the judge that presided over his cases, Genece Brinkley, had her court cases reassigned to other judges after several reports about her imposing inappropriate consequences surfaced.
At the beginning of December, Mill, REFORM, reality star and actress La La Anthony, gathered families impacted by the criminal justice system and treated them to shopping sprees, a tour of the Barclay Center, and enabled them to watch the Brooklyn Nets game from the VIP Suites.
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