Jay-Z isn’t much of a social media guy. While Beyoncé is out here posting video montages of her outfits of the day, interspersed with statements of support of those affected by recent tragedies in her hometown of Texas, Jay’s presence is typically non-existent.
Unlike his wife, Mr Carter is relatively low key. You’ll be hard pressed to spot anything more than the courteous sharing of various media appearances and the odd reminder that Tidal still exists over on his social media channels. Which is why when Mr Carter, the guy who hasn’t tweeted in six months and counting, posted a statement on Facebook condemning rapper Meek Mill’s recent prison sentence, everyone sat up to pay attention.
Yesterday Meek Mill, who is managed by Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation, was sentenced to two-four years in prison following the violation of the terms of his probation, reports Philly.com. The probation is from a drugs and weapons charge in 2008 for which Meek spent eight months in prison and was initially given a five-year probation period, however, a year later Meek violated his probation when he left Philadelphia (where Meek’s from, btw) without approval. That landed him an extra five months in prison and another 10 years to his probation period.
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To say that this latest sentencing by Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley came as a bit of a surprise would be an understatement, though. It came after Meek was arrested back in March for getting into a fight at an airport (when an airport worker who has since been fired got angry because Meek didn’t want to pose for a picture) in St. Louis. More recently Meek Mill pleaded guilty to ‘reckless driving’ when videos were spotted of riding a dirt bike around New York. Both arrests were considered violations of his probation of course, but the charges were subsequently dropped.
Apparently, Monday’s hearing was the first time out of the many that had been held before Judge Brinkley over the years, that neither the prosecutor nor probation offer recommended jail time. Yet this time Meek was ordered to be sent back to prison which many fans and celebs alike consider to be a dramatically disproportionate punishment for Meek’s actions.
Last night Jay-Z posted a status to his Facebook page about what had happened. It said: ‘The sentence handed down by the Judge – against the recommendation of the Assistant District Attorney and Probation Officer – is unjust and heavy handed. We will always stand by and support Meek Mill, both as he attempts to right this wrongful sentence and then in returning to his musical career’. Over on Instagram Snoop Dogg waded into the conversation to show support with an post of Meek Mill captioned: ‘Head up young g. We wit u’.
I think it's safe to say that the sentiment towards the criminal justice system in the states has been particularly negative over the last few years following the results of cases like Brock Turner's and those fought by the families who lost sons to police brutality, that have quite rightly attracted global attention and frustration. Punishment for parole violation doesn't seem to be the question here, but rather the reasonability of sentencing someone to prison (for doing wheelies on a dirt bike in a State that he shouldn't have been in) for a period six times the length of the one he was initially sentenced to nine years ago, when in the eyes of public, there are well reported high profile rapes and murders that have gone inadequately punished by the same system.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.