For the first time in his adult life, Meek Mill is a free man. The Philadelphia rapper had been in the system for so long, getting arrested in 2007 and remaining on probation since then. Every little slip-up resulted in him putting in time behind bars and after a certain point, enough was enough. The justice system is clearly still flawed if it took this long for the Philly D.A. to realize that Judge Genece Brinkley was being biased against Meek but yesterday, the rapper was present for a hearing in front of a new judge where he entered a guilty plea for a misdemeanor gun charge. In doing so, he avoids any further jail time. The judge also made the incredible decision to drop all other charges against him, effectively making Meek free for the first time in his life. The recording artist was in a celebratory mood.
"I really put that shit behind me today," tweeted the "Going Bad" artist. "I beat the streets." The final statement means a lot to the superstar, who has been through so much in the last year. Of course, this isn't the end of his journey. Meek intends on fixing the justice system once and for all. He issued the following message yesterday.
"I'm extremely grateful that my long legal battle is finally behind me and I appreciate that it has sparked a much-needed discussion about probation reform and the inequalities that exist within our two Americas. I have always told the truth—that as a teenager, who saw many around me die from senseless gun violence, I carried a gun for protection. I take responsibility for that and—in conjunction with my work on the REFORM Alliance—I'll continue to use my platform to make communities safer and reform our criminal justice system."
Congratulations to Meek Mill on finally reaching this point.