Jay-Z and Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance is celebrating a “major victory” in its mission after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new bill into law that limits probation terms. AB 1950 caps probation sentences at one year for misdemeanors and two years for felonies. This would theoretically lower the number of potential violations, which would keep probationers from being returned to prison for minor offenses.
REFORM campaigned extensively for the bill, which was introduced by California Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove of Los Angeles. Explaining her reasoning behind introducing the bill, Kamlager-Dove elaborated, “When you get violations, it increases the time that you’re on probation. So, you can be on probation for three years, you have some technicals, it increases to five to seven to eight to nine. There’s some people that are on probation for their entire life.” Meek Mill can attest to this; before his original case was reviewed and thrown out due to corrupted evidence, he’d spent his entire adult life on probation.
Michael Rubin, executive chairman of Fanatics and co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, helped Jay-Z and Meek Mill launch REFORM Alliance in 2019. He said in a statement, “This is exactly why we created REFORM — to change laws and create a smarter criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation and redemption all while keeping communities safe. We’re grateful for Governor Newsom and Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s commitment to making such meaningful change in California and we hope it sets a necessary precedent for state leaders across the country.”
Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. .
