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Since Meek Mill was recently placed behind bars for parole violations, the hip-hop community has been awash with an outpouring of support for the rapper's plight, including a rally in his hometown of Philadelphia on Monday night (November 13). One of Meek's most vocal supporters has been fellow rapper and his Roc Nation label boss JAY-Z.Almost immediately following Meek's incarceration, JAY-Z wrote an impassioned Facebook post in support of him. Today, he's in the New York Times with an op-ed about the situation: "For about a decade, [Meek's] been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside," he writes.Though Meek is the catalyst for the piece, Jay notes that the issue is much wider than just this one man, and cites injustices disproportionately affecting black people across the USA:
Where Meek himself is concerned, news came yesterday that he is currently appealing his sentence and probation, citing unfair bias on the part of Judge Genece Brinkley. And as far as this injustice at large goes, perhaps JAY-Z says it best: "Probation is a trap and we must fight for Meek and everyone else unjustly sent to prison."Follow Noisey on Twitter.The specifics of Meek’s case inspired me to write this. But it’s time we highlight the random ways people trapped in the criminal justice system are punished every day. The system treats them as a danger to society, consistently monitors and follows them for any minor infraction—with the goal of putting them back in prison.