Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf: Meek Mill’s Case Proves That Criminal Justice Reform Is Badly Needed

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s support of rapper and Philadelphia-native Meek Mill is well-documented. Last year, when the 31-year-old rapper was detained following a probation violation that stemmed from a crime the artist committed when he was just 18-years-old, the Governor supported the Philadelphia District Attorney’s decision to release Mill and expressed his desire to implement criminal justice reform that would prevent situations like Mill’s from occurring again. The governor even appeared publicly with Mill last April at a press conference announcing a new criminal justice reform legislative package, following the rapper’s release.

According to the Pennsylvania Capital Star, Governor Wolf reiterated this sentiment over the weekend. At a National Governor’s Association Meeting on Saturday, Wolf again pointed to Mill’s case as he cautioned his gubernatorial peers against criminal justice systems that impose probations that are too long to be effective. “[Mill] was confined to 14 years of probation, and his last infraction was popping a wheelie,” Wolf said Saturday. “It doesn’t help anybody who’s in a position to get back into the swing of things, help their family, help their community, help their economy. All those things are thwarted by having a bad criminal justice system,” he continued.

You can read his full remarks below.