1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:03,720 Speaker 1: I've never been in trouble in my life. I didn't 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: even have a parking ticket, you know what I mean. 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: I was brought up with cops are the good guys. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 2: I didn't know what was going to happen, but I 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 2: do know that everything was stacked against me. Everything like everything. 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 3: This isn't supposed to happen this way. I'm innocent. I 7 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 3: know I'm innocent. I know I had nothing to do 8 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 3: with this. How is this possible? 9 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 4: I grew up trusting systems. I've grew up believing that 10 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 4: every human being should do the right thing. And that's why, 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 4: even though I knew I was dealing with corerough people, 12 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 4: I wasn't going to break anyone to get me out 13 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 4: of prison because I wouldn't live with the fact that 14 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 4: I break my way out of my wife's death. 15 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 2: I'm not innocent, too proven guilty. I'm guilty until I 16 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 2: prove my innocence. And that's absolutely what happened to me. 17 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: Our system. 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 2: Since I've been out ten years, it has come a 19 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 2: little ways, but it's still broken. 20 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 4: I totally lost trusting humanity after what's happened to me. 21 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 5: This is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to wrongful conviction with 22 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 5: Jason flamm that's me and today we have an extraordinary 23 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 5: show and you're about to find out why. Today's guest 24 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 5: is the one and only Meek Milly and Michael Rubin 25 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 5: is with him and Meek, you need no introduction, but 26 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 5: welcome to the show. 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me. 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 5: Man. 29 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: I appreciate you for bringing me on the show. 30 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 5: I appreciate all the work you're doing and we're going 31 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 5: to get into that right away. But with him is 32 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 5: Michael Rubin, who is the owner of this Philadelphia seventy 33 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 5: six ers and has an amazing background as an entrepreneur 34 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 5: and businessman, but who has become a tremendous advocate for 35 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 5: criminal justice reform and is about to really take things up. 36 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 5: So Michael, I'm thrilled to have you in the movement 37 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 5: and I'm glad you're here on the show. 38 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for everything you're doing. I'm glad to be here. 39 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 5: So welcome. Oh we got to train in the background night. 40 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 5: That's what's were in Philadelphia. It's all good. People got 41 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 5: to ride the trains. So, Meek, one of the reasons 42 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 5: I wanted to have you on the show is because 43 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 5: your original case was in fact a wrongful conviction, and 44 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 5: that's something a lot of people don't understand. And there's 45 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 5: a lot more they don't understand about the circumstances in 46 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 5: which you were arrested and how this nightmare saga, which 47 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 5: is now in its second decade in the criminal justice 48 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 5: system has unfolded. And it's important to tell this story 49 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 5: because it shines a light on so many aspects of 50 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 5: what's wrong with the criminal justice system. And we're here 51 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 5: in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not Philadelphia, Mississippi. Even still, the system 52 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 5: here has been so backwards for so long, and you 53 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 5: were born right into the thick of it. Yeah, I mean, 54 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 5: let's talk about that, because nineteen eighty seven, so you know, 55 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 5: the the number of people incarcerated the United States stayed 56 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 5: relatively constant from nineteen hundred till about nineteen seventy, and 57 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 5: then it went crazy. It doubled and tripled and quadrupled. 58 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 5: And Philadelphia was a hot spot. And you were born 59 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 5: into a situation in which black men were being incarcerated 60 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 5: at rates that were unprecedented actually in the history of 61 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 5: the world. And your situation actually was the os was 62 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 5: totally stacked against you. But can you talk about that 63 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 5: about how you grew up and how this, you know, 64 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 5: was almost almost a fad of complete uh. 65 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: You know, I come from Philadelphia, actually North Philadelphia, which 66 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 2: now is called the Temple Area, and you know, we 67 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 2: grew up in an environments where like dragonfest environments where 68 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: a lot of violence, a lot of drugs, a lot 69 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 2: of things taking place. So it's like you could be 70 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 2: standing in the wrong place and lose your life, or 71 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,119 Speaker 2: you could be standing in the wrong place and get 72 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 2: charged with a crime you didn't do. That was just 73 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 2: like normal. Actually, I've been hanging with my friend p 74 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 2: Mind Mike. I've been hanging with p Mind probably fifteen years, 75 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 2: and I remember back he went to jail when he 76 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 2: was probably about fifteen years old. He probably thirty now. 77 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 2: He just turned thirty one a few days ago, and 78 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 2: I've been hanging with him since he was probably fourteen 79 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: years old. He said, he's like, yeah, the first time 80 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 2: I went to prison, he said, a white guy just 81 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 2: pulled up in the back of a car and just 82 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 2: pointed at me out the car and said, I robbed 83 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: him for seven dollars, but he had three hundred and 84 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 2: eighty dollars in his pocket and he went to jail 85 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 2: for that. He ended up doing I think like two 86 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 2: years and that in the juvenile facility. But that wasn't 87 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 2: the worst part. The worst part was he's got a 88 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 2: felony on this record for arm robbery. And you know, 89 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 2: if you know him, he not like a it's not robbery. 90 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 2: He's not robbery. And his system. He made mistakes in 91 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 2: his life. But me being around him, I never knew that, 92 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 2: but I witnessed that so many times. I wouldn'ts standing 93 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 2: on a corner and the cop pull up with a 94 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 2: Mexican guy in the back, and I don't know. Sometimes 95 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 2: we say and then our world in a sarcastic way 96 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 2: of being funny, we always be like white people look 97 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 2: the same to us. Some of my white friends were 98 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 2: like all black people were saying to us. But sometimes 99 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 2: that is the case with people, and they just pull 100 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 2: up and they point people out, and you stand there 101 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 2: when the cops pull up, and it just be like, 102 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: I hope this guy don't point me on. And that's 103 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 2: just one of the scenarios out of a million scenarios. 104 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 2: Being caught in the middle of poverty, where drug infested 105 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 2: the neighborhood, where people are getting robbed left and right, 106 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 2: where you know, cops left blacking people who have left 107 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 2: and rights just to get stripes on that record, you 108 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. And we grew up in that 109 00:05:57,920 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 2: and you know, at eighteen years old, I was caught 110 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 2: up in that system. And even though I've been on 111 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 2: the path since ever since of doing spectacular in my 112 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 2: life from where I come from, that same system is 113 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 2: still haunting me and hanking me down. Even at the 114 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 2: age of thirty one and having a record deal and 115 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 2: being able to handle business and work, it still haunted 116 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 2: me to pull me back to the same system where 117 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 2: I just left eleven years ago. 118 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 5: And you just brought up two things that I wanted 119 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 5: to highlight. I mean, one is, you were, in a 120 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 5: very real way victim of that violence because your father 121 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 5: was murdered when you were a child, right, so you 122 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 5: had to grow up in that environment. And then on 123 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 5: top of that. 124 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: Everybody was murdered. It was everybody was. 125 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 5: Murdered, Yeah, it was. I mean the violence in that 126 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 5: time was crazy, and some of it was inflicted by 127 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 5: the police, including the violence that they inflicted on you 128 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 5: when they arrested you. But on top of that, you 129 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 5: brought up a very important point, which is that we 130 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 5: know from decades of research now that cross racial identifications 131 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:02,159 Speaker 5: are extremely unreliable. Dentifications in general are unreliable because when 132 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 5: people have witness a crime, they're adrenaline, especially violent crime, 133 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 5: their adrenaline goes crazy and their perception gets screwy and 134 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 5: the brain doesn't function properly, so it almost becomes like guessing. 135 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 5: But it gets even worse. And there's a movement now 136 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 5: to try to in various places, to try to put 137 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 5: in a system where a jury has to be instructed 138 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 5: in a case in which across racial identification is an 139 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 5: important factor that these things are as unreliable as they 140 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 5: are because they need to know, but in most cases 141 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 5: they don't know. They just think an identification is the 142 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 5: most powerful thing. Going to court room too, a guy 143 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 5: points at you and goes, that's him. You know, it's 144 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 5: hard for a jury to see past that. 145 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like it's a neighborhood. We all wearing white 146 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 2: Teas of the summer of two thousand and three, everybody 147 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 2: white T shirts is the popular thing to wear with 148 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 2: denim shirts. And you've got a guy you might be Asian. 149 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 2: He pulled up on a corner. We all seven of 150 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 2: us got braids, and four of us got a little cousin, 151 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 2: But we all look the same, the ones that got 152 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 2: braized to him, that's just you allowed to repick, to 153 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 2: get caught up in the system. Like whoever you point at, 154 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 2: that's you. And you better hope you don't have no 155 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 2: felonies on your record already because you might go to 156 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 2: jail for a long time. 157 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 5: And sociologically speaking, and this goes back again to the 158 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 5: seventies and eighties. Right at the same time that they 159 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 5: were rolling back welfare and other programs for the urban poor, 160 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 5: they were ramping up the policing and they were Now 161 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 5: you created the perfect storm because what was happening was 162 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 5: you had these systems coming for tracking arrest. You had 163 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 5: so many more cops. In fact, I think in Philadelphia 164 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 5: sixty nine percent more police decade over decade than they 165 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 5: were before, and they had to make arrests. So whereas 166 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 5: before they were largely ignoring what was going on in 167 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 5: the community, now there were heightened penalties for not just 168 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 5: for violent crimes, but also for all kinds of different 169 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 5: drug crimes, for vagrancy, for trespassing, for anything, and they 170 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 5: were in a position where they were arresting people left 171 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 5: and right and creating this permanent underclass, which is what 172 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 5: you were referring to me. And Michael. You know, obviously 173 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 5: you grew up here too, right, but your situation must 174 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 5: have been. 175 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,559 Speaker 6: Very in a very different world. I grew up maybe 176 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 6: twenty minutes for me. But Mick used to always say 177 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 6: to me. We used to have this argument for years. 178 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 6: He'd say to me, Michael, there's two Americans. And I'd 179 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 6: be like, like, dude, shut up. There's like there's there's 180 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 6: one America. Like stop, you know, like you're doing great, 181 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 6: Like you know, I didn't understand, Like what are you 182 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 6: telling me about these two worlds? We live in one 183 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 6: great country and and you know, we'd argue about all 184 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 6: the time. And I remember the day that that meet 185 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 6: got sentenced November six, twenty seventeen, he called me from 186 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 6: from the Philadelphia job before they transferred to a different jeneral. 187 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 6: They said, he said, you see, I told you this 188 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 6: is what happens to. 189 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,679 Speaker 1: The black people on that oage, right, And I just 190 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: like that. 191 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 6: You know, I said you were right, I was wrong, 192 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 6: and there is two worlds. And you know, for me, 193 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 6: November six, twenty seventeen, was really a life change in 194 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 6: moment because I would never have been able to understand 195 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 6: or really believe, and I don't think anybody would be 196 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 6: able to believe how crazy circumstance he was living in, 197 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 6: because it didn't seem possible until you sat in the courtroom. 198 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 6: And even people that have come to later court hearings 199 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 6: of Judge Brinkley have said, I've heard everything about this, 200 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 6: but I didn't believe it until I actually saw it, 201 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 6: and it's so crazy. So for sure, I grew up 202 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 6: in a completely different environment. But Miek always told me 203 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,319 Speaker 6: from the day I metum. I remember we were at 204 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 6: a NBA All Star game and you know, within you know, 205 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 6: a few minutes, you know, Meek realized I was involved 206 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 6: with the Philadelphia seventy six ers, and you know, he 207 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,440 Speaker 6: was telling me a little bit about his background. He 208 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 6: told me he was charged for pointing a gun at 209 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 6: multiple cops. And he said to me, like, you know, 210 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 6: I didn't do that, Like if you know, if I pointed, 211 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 6: you know, a gun at multiple cops, I'd be dead. 212 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 6: Like I heard them, but I didn't really comprehend it. 213 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 6: And then like if I've told that story to five 214 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 6: hundred people in the last seven months. Every person from 215 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 6: law enforcement to politics, to anyone who understands anything, they 216 00:10:58,559 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 6: all say the same thing. 217 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: He's right, and he'd be dead. 218 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 6: No one would point a you know, pull a gun 219 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 6: on multiple cops and not get shot. And meet can't 220 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,559 Speaker 6: obviously talk about the case because the case is still 221 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 6: unfortunately going on, which is crazy in itself, uncommon sense, right, 222 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 6: But I mean, you're talking about a guy who is 223 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 6: wrongfully convicted when he was eighteen years old of a 224 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 6: crime that he didn't commit. It's been sent back to 225 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 6: jail multiple times, never committed a new crime, and he's 226 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 6: the perfect example of someone who's been stuck in a 227 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 6: completely broken criminal justice system for criming and commit and 228 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 6: it's now thirteen years later and it's still going on, 229 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 6: and that shows how broken the criminal justice system is. 230 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 5: It's incredible. You know, we have two point two million 231 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 5: people in prison in America and including jail, another four. 232 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: And a half million people on probation in parole. 233 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 5: For yeah, I mean, the latest figure I heard was 234 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 5: four point eight, right, And once we accept those figures, 235 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 5: you also have to accept the fact that we now 236 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 5: have between jail, prison, probation, and parole. We have more 237 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 5: black people with mostly men under a criminal justice supervision 238 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 5: in America then all the slaves at the height of 239 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 5: slavery in America in the eighteen fifties or sixties, whatever 240 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 5: that was. That that should really mess people's heads up, 241 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,199 Speaker 5: like what are we doing? We actually are It's just well, 242 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,200 Speaker 5: it's like Michelle Alexander says, is the new Jim Crow. 243 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 6: But what's even you know, let's bring it to current. 244 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:27,599 Speaker 6: What you can't what words can't explain, is Miek is 245 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 6: still on probation for something that we've already said he 246 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 6: didn't do, and it's been going on for thirteen years 247 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 6: from the original wrongful conviction. But he can't like you 248 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 6: can't live that way, Like I say, I joke with him, 249 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 6: I feel like I'm on probation because I'm worried about. 250 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: Just something going wrong with him. 251 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 6: If he decides to leave a state a day early 252 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 6: because something changed with the schedule, or he gets you know, 253 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 6: someone says hey, I'm going to pay you to go 254 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 6: do this contract. I want to go and I have 255 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 6: the proper days of permission, the judge will try to 256 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 6: violate him. I mean, it's the system is chasing him 257 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 6: and trying to violate, and that's not what probation is 258 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 6: supposed to be about, reabilitating somebody, not trying to catch 259 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 6: them and send that back to prison. And something that 260 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 6: someone told me recently, and you know, I've now become 261 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 6: too familiar with this, but seventy percent of people to 262 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 6: go back to jail once they've been in jail in 263 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 6: prison are going back for technical probation violations. Like to me, 264 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 6: virtually none of those people should be going You know, 265 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 6: you had a technical probation violation, right, you didn't commit 266 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 6: a crime, you were late for your probation officer. You 267 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 6: you know, didn't pay a certain amount of money. You 268 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 6: know you had you know something, you know, you traveled 269 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 6: out of the state. You know he went to his 270 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 6: son in New Jersey because he lives in Pennsylvania. And 271 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 6: you can be violated and sent back to jail. This 272 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 6: is lunacy. 273 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 5: This is absolute lunacy. And I want, I'm really glad 274 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 5: you brought that up, Michael, because I don't want to 275 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 5: get your take on this week because in a lot 276 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 5: of the reforms that are underway right now, there's this 277 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 5: hidden caveat or this hidden nightmare i'll call it of 278 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 5: enhanced probation and other ways of the government keeping people 279 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 5: under control. So to me, a true crime reform bill 280 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 5: should eliminate those problems. And you obviously can speak firsthand 281 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,719 Speaker 5: about just how restrictive that is, and Michael has said 282 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 5: very eloquently, when you have seventy percent of people going 283 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 5: back to jail or prison because they have some technical violation, 284 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 5: that's insane, right, So, but can you talk about that, 285 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 5: because I'm very concerned that they're sneaking these devils into 286 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 5: the details in these new crime bills that are going 287 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 5: to allow them to maintain this control. There's no other 288 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 5: way to look at it over millions of people's lives, 289 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 5: and there's a profit center in that for a lot 290 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 5: of people too. 291 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's more than insane to me. I take it 292 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 2: as deep as like you said, I could go see 293 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 2: my son in New Jersey and actually be locked in 294 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 2: a cage and be locked and changed. Shechecky from like 295 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 2: angle to feet. 296 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 5: For the crime of going from Pennsylvania to New Jersey 297 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 5: to see your son, that's what I'm saying. I'm being facetious. Yeah, 298 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 5: for the crime in quotes. 299 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you this right now. 300 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 6: Judge Brinkley is to do that too. She's trying to 301 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 6: right now today, I promise you, she's sitting in our 302 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 6: house obsessed about how she can figure out how to 303 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 6: put them back in jail for nothing. That's a fact. 304 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 6: He can't talk about that, but I can't. I'm telling 305 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 6: you straight up that's what's going on. 306 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 5: It's it's really bizarre. I mean, as a country, why 307 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 5: would we want I mean, these are our tax dollars, right, 308 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 5: and it hurts the average taxpayer. Even if you're somebody 309 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 5: who's not particularly concerned about criminal justice reform, or you 310 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 5: think a lot of people or you maybe you think 311 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 5: you're tough on crime or whatever, it might be. The 312 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 5: money that's being spent to lock people like you meek 313 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 5: up right and to keep you under supervision, and this 314 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 5: bloated and draconian system is pure insanity. I mean that 315 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 5: money could be spent. I mean, I know that at 316 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 5: one time eighty billion eighty billionaire at one time. I 317 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 5: don't even know if it's still true. But a few 318 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 5: years ago I checked and California, which a lot of 319 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 5: people think I was in a progressive state, was spending 320 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 5: more money locking people up than they were educating people. 321 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 5: And I'm like, uh, I think that's college but still, 322 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 5: and we have fact check that, but it's it's that 323 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 5: that is absolutely staggering. And the crazy thing is these 324 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 5: are Americans. There are fellow people, you know, I say 325 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 5: the politicians when I talk to him, I'm like, you know, 326 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 5: if another country treated our people the way we treat 327 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 5: our people, we'd invade this stuff. 328 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 2: We wouldn't even do to our pets, you know what 329 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 2: I'm saying, Like you wouldn't lock your pet in the 330 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 2: metal cell. For sometimes we get locked in and I 331 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 2: say we because I've been through this experience so many times, 332 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 2: and like sometimes we get locked in a room for 333 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 2: twenty three hours a day for a month or two weeks, 334 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 2: some people actually even years. You know what I'm saying. 335 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 2: It's like they say when you come home, it's a 336 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 2: violation to be around felons. Like how is it a 337 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 2: violation to be around felons when you just had me 338 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 2: locked up amongst thousands of felons? Like what rule is this? 339 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 5: I'm glad you brought that up too, because that's another 340 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 5: thing that creates this vicious story. 341 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 6: Ex's by the way you think about it. In the 342 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 6: environment you grew up, what percentage of people that live 343 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 6: on your block have had a felony? 344 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 2: Ninety five percent? 345 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: Right, So what you're saying is essential family. 346 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 6: Anyone can put you back in prison because there's a 347 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 6: rule that says you can't be around felons. But everyone 348 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 6: you grew up with has a felony. 349 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 2: If somebody really made that an issue, I would probably 350 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 2: go to jail any day. Because if I go to 351 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 2: the studio with a rapper and we make a song, 352 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 2: I don't know his record, but. 353 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 5: Right, you don't know, how would you go? You have 354 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 5: to have like a database that we do at all times. 355 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 5: Most people can't afford that, I mean, and you're not 356 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 5: going to do it. The fact is, and yet you know, 357 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 5: it's like I'm just quoting a statistic here. In nineteen 358 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 5: ninety one in four black children born in nineteen ninety 359 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 5: had an imprisoned father by the time he or she 360 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 5: turned fourteen. 361 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, right, And the. 362 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 5: Numbers just get worse and worse. I mean, thirty percent 363 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 5: of black men without college educations today will have been 364 00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 5: to prison by their men thirties and spent up to 365 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 5: a year in prison thirty percent. Yeah, I mean that's 366 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 5: without college ass and the numbers go to sixty percent 367 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 5: when you look at black mails without high school education. Yeah, 368 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 5: sixty percent of black males out a high school education 369 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 5: was bet a year in prison or jail before their 370 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 5: thirtieth birthday. What are we doing? And the fact is 371 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 5: it's actually impossible to succeed, which is why I'm always 372 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 5: amazed when somebody does come from the background that you 373 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 5: came from and make it, because with that cycle, how 374 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,959 Speaker 5: do you do it? They've created a minefield that you 375 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 5: can't walk through. Right, once you get arrested, You're going 376 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,159 Speaker 5: to get re arrested no matter what you do, pretty much. 377 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, one hundred percent. And like me and Mike, 378 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 2: we just spend an hour Mike just teaching me about 379 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 2: financial stuff and like texts and things that like when 380 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 2: we're growing up, from like age thirteen to twenty years old, 381 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 2: we probably invest ninety five percent of our think and 382 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 2: time in how to survive in these type of conditions 383 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 2: because it's like almost impossible to survive. So like you 384 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 2: got to put like your owe into how to even 385 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 2: be in my mind frame now, I still like even though 386 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 2: I travel the world, it's still installed in my mind. 387 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 2: It's still like something that is like I might come 388 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 2: into a certain situation in a certain area and I 389 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 2: go into survival move and I have to double back, 390 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,120 Speaker 2: and like this is not even that type of environment 391 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 2: where I don't live this type of life anymore, But 392 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 2: it's just always installed inside my head, you know what 393 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 2: I'm saying, And coming from environments like that, Like you said, 394 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 2: sixty percent where I come from, it feels like it's ninety. 395 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:33,719 Speaker 2: Like is do that count death? Death is going They 396 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 2: probably go up to probably ninety five percent. Uh people 397 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 2: young black men being murdered or going to prison probably 398 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 2: sixty plus another thirty five percent. 399 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: Mick, I've heard you talk about this. 400 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 6: You know, how many people do you know that you 401 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 6: were close with, you, you had a real relationship with, that 402 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:01,159 Speaker 6: have been murdered? 403 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 2: Twenty twenty five? 404 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: That's how many? 405 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 5: I know? 406 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 2: How many? 407 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: Zero? 408 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 4: Yeah? 409 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: You know how many I know that have been close? Zero? Right, 410 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: So you're talking about yeah, different environments, So. 411 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that's great. 412 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 5: We have two Shepherd systems of justice in America, one 413 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 5: for people with money and one for people without and 414 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 5: one for people who are of color and one for 415 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 5: people who are not. And when and when you hit 416 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 5: that jackpot of the reverse jackpot of being a person 417 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 5: of color without being born into a wealthy family, which 418 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 5: is a huge majority. 419 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 2: You don't even have to come from a wealthy family 420 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 2: to like not be around somebody that was murdered. It's 421 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 2: really like territorial, Like I got one of my songs 422 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 2: where I'm talking about like like we've been put in 423 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 2: groups in certain areas, even with public house and public house, 424 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 2: and it's really across Philadelphia. So if you grow grow 425 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 2: up less fortunate, they're sticking people in certain areas if 426 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 2: you pay attention to it, Like it's North Philadelphia, but 427 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 2: not the whole North Philadelphia is a certain part in 428 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,120 Speaker 2: South Philadelphia. It's a rich part of South Philadelphia where 429 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 2: like houses cost a million dollars in and then you 430 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 2: got some houses that cost forty thousand. They only moving 431 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 2: us in certain areas. And I always say this, like 432 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 2: if you take a drone, the main line of Philadelphia 433 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 2: is like city Line Avenue where my apartments used to 434 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 2: be at City Line Avenue. You take a drone and 435 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 2: then you make the drone go high in the sky, 436 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 2: and if the drone had a zoom and kerd zoom, 437 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,679 Speaker 2: and on this side of the left and right, you 438 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 2: will see it's quiet his peace here and this chaos 439 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 2: going here. And if you take a kid from over 440 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 2: here and let him spend three summers in this area, 441 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 2: it will be less. He won't be the way the 442 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 2: chaos says. He would turn to be more leaning like 443 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 2: these people in this area. And I witnessed that with 444 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,360 Speaker 2: my family. I used to have a nephew. He lived 445 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 2: in the projects. He used to cuss, He's seen a 446 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 2: lot of things. He used to act up in school, 447 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 2: and you know, he moved to a suburban area and 448 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 2: his whole life changed within two years. It was just 449 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 2: that simple. 450 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 5: And I want to ask you this, Meek, because I 451 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 5: come from the music industry. In fact, today's my thirty 452 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 5: ninth birthday in the music industry, believe it or not. 453 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 5: Because I started when I was eighteen years old. I 454 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 5: know I look younger than that. I don't have to 455 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 5: say it, thank you very much anyway, But yeah, I 456 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,520 Speaker 5: started July thirty first, nineteen seventy nine point on posters 457 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 5: and record stores. But that's beside the point for a 458 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 5: long time, and nobody talks about this, But for a 459 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 5: long time, I've been pondering, thinking about obsessed with the 460 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 5: idea of with the grim statistics and scenario that we're 461 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 5: painting here, how many people, and you're exactly the guy 462 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 5: want to ask this question, how many people as talented 463 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 5: as you are either got shot or got locked up 464 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 5: more importantly, got locked up in prison, and society as 465 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 5: a result is being deprived of those talents and all 466 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 5: the revenue and all the culture that would have come 467 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 5: from that. How many jay zs are there that didn't 468 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 5: make it out and ended up in prison doing back of. 469 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,239 Speaker 2: The life thousands, you know what I'm saying. I know 470 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 2: as guys in there and locked it with as talented 471 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 2: as me, You know what I'm saying. And they probably 472 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 2: there for felonies on felonies. And when you say, like 473 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 2: when people label you as a fella, like how it's 474 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 2: that my friend caught a fella and he was fifteen 475 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 2: for something he ain't do now. Actually when he do 476 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 2: make a mistake, when he do go hang on the 477 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,959 Speaker 2: corner or when we come up on the corner around 478 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 2: drug doos, everybody sell drugs. Your first step is to 479 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 2: pick up a drug. So when you get your second felony, 480 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 2: you might be actually good at basketball. You might have 481 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 2: been in eleventh grade and actually one of the best 482 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 2: players on the team. And here come you in a 483 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 2: bad neighborhood. You get arrested for something else, and we 484 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,360 Speaker 2: don't have a lawyer money. You might take a deal, 485 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 2: and the deal is put this fellow on your record. 486 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 2: Now you got three felonies on your record, and you're 487 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 2: not They might call you a career criminal. You're not 488 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 2: a career criminal. You just was in the wrong mix. Basically, 489 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 2: Now you might get fifteen years for something small. You 490 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 2: see how he told you that the guy got fifteen 491 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 2: Well he had two life sentince for stealing. Now your record, 492 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 2: your jacket is up. You get fifteen years. So now 493 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 2: you trapped inside a prison. You will never get a 494 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 2: real shot at life, and you might be good as 495 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 2: Ben Simmons, Joe m bib and you know all that 496 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,679 Speaker 2: went down to dream But far us rap is the 497 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 2: hundreds of it was probably at least fifty guys that 498 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 2: was actually good. Where I was at, where I was 499 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 2: locked up at, where if they was on the street. 500 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 2: We would spend time in the studio and build together 501 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 2: and make music together. Fifty I would say in that 502 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 2: one prison that I know of, and rap music. 503 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 5: And this will surprise probably very few people that are 504 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 5: listeners of the podcast, But recently, hip hop recently passed 505 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 5: rock and roll, every rock pop as the most popular 506 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 5: genre worldwide. Right, and it all comes from almost all 507 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 5: of it comes from America. Right, Yeah, So when we're 508 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 5: exporting that, we're bringing tax revenue into this country. When 509 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 5: we're when guys like you are making records, selling millions 510 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,919 Speaker 5: of records, selling concert tickets, you're paying taxes. All that 511 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 5: stuff goes back into the system. Everybody is being hurt 512 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 5: by that, and society is being deprived of geniuses at 513 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,239 Speaker 5: As you said, basketball is another story, right, But when 514 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 5: you talk about it like that, you have a kid 515 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 5: as good as whoever you want to talk about, Simmons 516 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 5: or whatever. They get arrested like that, the college scholarships 517 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 5: going out the window. They can't play college ball now, 518 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 5: their whole their whole thing. And let's say that guy 519 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 5: was going to make one hundred million dollars not unrealistic, 520 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 5: but one of the seventy six ers year. 521 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 6: Right, You're what, right, we look forward to writing many 522 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 6: checks for one hundred million dollars because that we have 523 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 6: that many great players. 524 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 5: And let me ask you, do those players pay taxes 525 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 5: on those checks? Of course, of course they do, right, 526 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 5: huge amouth back into the city, coming back to the state, 527 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 5: coming back into the country, because those people were the 528 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 5: few lucky ones that managed to escape from this, you know, 529 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 5: sort of trap that society has built. 530 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 6: But even more than money, if you look at the 531 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 6: math and you say there's six point seven or six 532 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 6: point nine million people today in America trapped in the 533 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:44,679 Speaker 6: criminal justice system, the. 534 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: Question is what's appropriate. 535 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 6: Like if we just all said, if you got anyone 536 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 6: together and said, what do you think someone should be 537 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 6: in prison for? What should someone be on probation for? 538 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 6: If you said, hey, that person got caught smoking weed? 539 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 6: Should any of there's people be in prison from sif's 540 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 6: if someone stole one hundred dollars as a fifteen year 541 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 6: old kid, should they be stuck in prison? And the 542 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 6: amount of story, Like I think if you looked at 543 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,400 Speaker 6: the math and just said, let's just take this top down, 544 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 6: there's six point seven or six nine point nine million 545 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 6: people in the criminal justice system, I think you could 546 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,159 Speaker 6: say if we just all said what should people be 547 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 6: in the system for and not being the system. We 548 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 6: just took a bunch of rational people. The number is 549 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 6: probably half. And so to me, what's such a travesty 550 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 6: is you've got millions of people stuck in the criminal 551 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,640 Speaker 6: justice system that don't belong there, and by the way, 552 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 6: you're ruining their lives, their families, lives, their friends' lives. 553 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 6: By the way, there's a lot of people that belong 554 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 6: in prison. We want to live in a safe world. 555 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 6: We want to have you know, violent offenders, people that 556 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 6: are murder people or rapists. 557 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: You know, armed robbers. 558 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 6: There are a lot of people that belong in prison, 559 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 6: and I want those people in prison. But the problem 560 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 6: is there's millions of people that shouldn't be in the 561 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 6: criminal justice system that are. And that's the problem that 562 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,680 Speaker 6: needs to be addressed. And that's what I know. Meek 563 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 6: is really excited to help make an impact on. I'm 564 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 6: excited to help make an impact on I think this 565 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 6: is an enormous problem that's costing tens of billions of 566 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 6: dollars and is ruined millions of people's lives. 567 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 5: So, yeah, and Michael, picking up on what you were 568 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 5: saying thirty thirty five years ago, we had three hundred 569 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,160 Speaker 5: thousand people in prison in America. Right now it's two 570 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 5: point two million. And I'm sure the numbers on probation 571 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 5: and parole were proportionately about, you know, seven times less 572 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 5: like this one is too. And then you look at 573 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 5: the country like Japan, right, well, we locked If you 574 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 5: look at Western Europe, we lock people up at five 575 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 5: to nine times, depending which country you choose, the rate 576 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 5: of the rest of the countries in Western Europe, the 577 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 5: lowest is five times as many per capita. Right, And 578 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 5: then when you look at we have more people in 579 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 5: prison just for drugs in America than everyone in prison 580 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,880 Speaker 5: of all of Western Europe for everything. And Western Europe 581 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:45,640 Speaker 5: is much more than many more people in Western Europe 582 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 5: than the we're in America. And then you get to Japan. 583 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 5: In Japan they have approximately seventy thousand people in prison. 584 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 5: We probably have seventy thousand people in prison in a 585 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 5: mid sized state, yeah, maybe even a smaller state than 586 00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 5: this one, right, yeah, because I mean do the math. 587 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 5: So we lock people up at fourteen times the rate 588 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 5: per capita that Japan does. And for anybody listening, going, yeah, 589 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 5: but that's why we have a lower crime rate than 590 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 5: they do. No, we don't. Our crimemates are the same, 591 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 5: and there's no evidence that supports. In fact, I think 592 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 5: every social scientist that has studied this would agree that 593 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 5: this system is the worst system in terms of you know, 594 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 5: in terms of crime and perpetuating the cycle because of 595 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 5: the fact that when people go to jail or prison, 596 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 5: as we talked about, growing up in the situation they are, 597 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 5: they come out, they're unemployable to I'll understanding. That's something 598 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 5: I talk about on the show a lot, like people 599 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 5: that are out there that are employers take a shot 600 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 5: with somebody who was system affected, because those people will 601 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 5: work harder and better. You know, there's a bakery in 602 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 5: New York I just found out about I saw Ted 603 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 5: talk about this that hires anybody who walks in system affected. 604 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 5: They don't even ask, and they're hugely successful. They make 605 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 5: all the brownies for Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Right 606 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 5: they sell a zillion can imagine ay brownie's. 607 00:28:58,160 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: I want a lot of them right now because we 608 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: have a little weight loss back on us. We can 609 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: get this delivered to. 610 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 5: Him right now. Last time. 611 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, neither is he looks heavier though. 612 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 5: No, but it's you know, that's something that we really 613 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 5: need to as a society start to uh be much 614 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 5: more progressive on and you know, more like empathetic. I mean, 615 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,479 Speaker 5: I don't want to sound like some like touchy feely 616 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 5: person here. And I'm with you, Michael. 617 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 6: I believe think that's an easier problem to solve because 618 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 6: I've actually been thinking, Look, we employ eight thousand people 619 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 6: between my companies, and you know, I think if you 620 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 6: got you know, a bunch of business leaders to focus 621 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 6: on taking big companies and saying what areas in the 622 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 6: company can start to take people right out of prison 623 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 6: to help rehabilitate them. I think there's actually I think 624 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 6: there are I think there are actually. 625 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: Easy ways to make real progress. Scancel. 626 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 6: I'm actually optimistic with a little bit of focus and 627 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 6: energy that real. 628 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: Impact can be made there well. 629 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 6: And another way that I can tell you, I think 630 00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 6: a lot of the time, a lot of those cases, 631 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 6: you have better employees, as you just indicated as well. 632 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 6: So if we took we have you know, thousands of 633 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 6: people that manufacture a power working for filment centers, working 634 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 6: call centers. You know, I think that So my point 635 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 6: is there's you know, big opportunities to hire people. And 636 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 6: I think that you know, again, if you look at 637 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 6: how many people work in America and then how many 638 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 6: people coming out of prison or jail each year. If 639 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 6: there's two point two million people in prison in jail, 640 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 6: maybe I don't know, five hundred thousand people come out 641 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 6: a year. I don't think it takes a lot to 642 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,080 Speaker 6: get a set of big companies Joy focus on helping 643 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 6: solve this problem. 644 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 2: And especially with long time offenders, like a long time offenders, 645 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 2: like people who serve over ten years, they spend most 646 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 2: of their jail time working. In fact, the results working 647 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 2: for the prison that their mind they have experienced, their 648 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 2: mind is structured to just work all day. And Member 649 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 2: Rabbal was telling us he had a program we hired 650 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 2: like a lot of ex offenders, and he asked me, like, 651 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 2: how many of them messed up? Was you in that conversation? 652 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 2: He asked me said how many you think messed up? 653 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 2: Out of two hundred, I'm probably like I said one 654 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 2: ninety eight because I knew the number would be high. 655 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 2: Because I know of long time offenders, people that come 656 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 2: home doing a lot of time, they don't they don't 657 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 2: really want to mess up again. He told me nothing 658 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 2: out of two hundred none. 659 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 5: Yeah, and that's amazing. 660 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,400 Speaker 1: I was only two of I think this was twenty 661 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: to thirty years ago. 662 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 6: Robert Craft had a real focus on taking people that 663 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 6: had come out of prison at hiring them. And the 664 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 6: point to your point, was there his best employees. 665 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, there's best employees. And it's interesting too. I mean, 666 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 5: call it luck, call whatever you want. I've got. I've 667 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 5: been very fortunate, blessed whatever to be able to help 668 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 5: advocate successfully for clemency for dozens of people deserving people 669 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 5: over the years, not just people who are innocent, but 670 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 5: people who were primarily who are sentenced the mandatory senses, 671 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 5: crazy mandatory sentences like Lenny Singleton, who you referenced earlier, 672 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 5: or Travian Blount who was senced just at fifteen years 673 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 5: old since to six life terms for a robbery in 674 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 5: which no one was hurt. Fifteen years old, six life terms. 675 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 5: It made international news, like what it What in the 676 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 5: world even is that? Like that's it's got to be 677 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 5: well it is. 678 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 2: That should be a crown That sentence of minds today 679 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 2: like why that's and. 680 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 6: And to me, that's the that should be the easy 681 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 6: things to get everyone aligned on and fix. And by 682 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 6: the way, take talk about the state that meek us 683 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 6: from that I'm from. In Pennsylvania, we're one of three 684 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 6: states in America that has no cap on probation. So 685 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 6: an the forty seven states have caps of probation summer, 686 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 6: three years, two years, four years. 687 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: We have no cap in Pennsylvania. 688 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 2: Yeh. 689 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 6: So someone like me who I didn't know that was 690 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 6: separate that he was wrongfully convicted thirteen years ago appointing 691 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 6: a gun that didn't point a gun and a cop 692 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 6: by the way, where multiple police officers come forward and 693 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 6: said it was a lie. So we have affid davits 694 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 6: from a police officer came for in and said, no, 695 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 6: I was one of the two resting officers and know 696 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 6: he didn't. 697 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: Point the gun. 698 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 6: Okay, Now, after after after that, you've still got you've 699 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 6: got a system that just come completely completely broken. And 700 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 6: in Pennsylvania, he gets sentenced to probation and then he 701 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 6: does a concert in a different state without the proper 702 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 6: authorization and attack on another five years of probation. And 703 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 6: now he's got he's still six years of probation left. Right, 704 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 6: So he's got no chance to actually succeed in that situation. 705 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 6: And I can tell you if you put me, the 706 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 6: Jewish kid from suburban Philadelphia on probation, I couldn't make 707 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 6: a year with what he needs to go through. 708 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 5: There's not possible. 709 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 2: In the primetime fuck up years of my life from 710 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 2: eighteen to thirty one, he's the prime years where you 711 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 2: make mistakes. 712 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 1: I still fuck up a forty six. 713 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 5: By the way, Yeah, breathing while lack is basically a 714 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 5: probation violation. But what I was going to say before 715 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 5: is that of the people that I've been involved with, 716 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 5: that that I've helped to get out of prison, none 717 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,040 Speaker 5: of them have reoffended or offended for the first time 718 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,879 Speaker 5: in the cases of which they were innocent. None but 719 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 5: hold on, some will. 720 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 6: And that's okay because you know what, at the end 721 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 6: of the day, we need to make the world a 722 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 6: better place. And if we get millions of people out 723 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 6: of the criminal justice system, and if you make mistakes, 724 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 6: that's okay because there's a lot of people that aren't 725 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 6: in the criminal justice system that will also make mistakes. 726 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 6: This is never going to be perfect, and that's someone says, hey, 727 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 6: we should keep that six point seven or six point 728 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 6: nine million people stuck in the criminal justice system, the 729 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 6: few million that shouldn't be there because someone may make 730 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 6: a mistake. Nothing's perfect like we need. We need to 731 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,319 Speaker 6: get it right overall. And that's the same approach I 732 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 6: take in business. We want to make good overall decisions. 733 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 6: We don't go for perfection. If we went for perfection, 734 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 6: we never get anything done. 735 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 5: Of course, not. As I said, I've been lucky in 736 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 5: that sense. And of the people of the Innoc's project, 737 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 5: of the people that we've gotten out, a tiny percentage of 738 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,399 Speaker 5: them have ever been in any sort of trouble. Again, 739 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 5: people age Trent and we. 740 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,719 Speaker 2: Were talking about real trouble. Probably zero they got back 741 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 2: in real trouble. 742 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,319 Speaker 5: We know that people age out of crime. There's a 743 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,399 Speaker 5: couple of other very important topics I want to touch 744 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,640 Speaker 5: on with you, Meek and Michael. One is prisons themselves 745 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,720 Speaker 5: and how barbaric our prison system is when it's supposed 746 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 5: to be called a correctional institution, and we know that 747 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 5: that is the farthest thing from the truth in most cases. 748 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,760 Speaker 5: And the other is how important it is for people 749 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 5: to get out and vote, because I don't think we 750 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 5: can have this conversation without talking about that. You just 751 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 5: are in the middle of actually a criminal justice revamp 752 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,040 Speaker 5: slash and some people I've heard somebody say, we don't 753 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 5: need criminal justice perform, we need a criminal justice revolution. Well, 754 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 5: in Philadelphia, that's taking place under your eyes because of 755 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 5: an election, right and an election in which I can 756 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:50,359 Speaker 5: bet that eighty something to percent of people didn't vote 757 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 5: at least right because of the DA's race. And so 758 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 5: I mean, what can you say, which one do you 759 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,120 Speaker 5: want to take on? First of those times we could. 760 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 2: Talk vote in it. This coming from our on where 761 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 2: we come from. Wasn't it a few years ago? Could 762 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,480 Speaker 2: you even vote when you was a fela? Did that change? 763 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 5: I don't know if it's changed. We're trying to change it. 764 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 5: And well, it was changed in Virginia, Governor McAuliffe, fix 765 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 5: that reenfranchised two hundred thousand people. In Florida. There's a 766 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 5: referendum on the ballot. Now, anyone who's listening in Florida, 767 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,720 Speaker 5: you must vote on this referendum. We're going to restore 768 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,240 Speaker 5: the right of x Fellons to vote. There's seven hundred 769 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 5: thousand people in Florida who can't vote. 770 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, and this goes, this goes far us back when 771 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 2: I say, like the other side of America where people 772 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 2: don't even believe like that world tends to us. And 773 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 2: I used to think that, but that was that was 774 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 2: deeply false and part of my campaign this year twenty eighteen, 775 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, as I moving around, one of my jobs 776 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,760 Speaker 2: is trying to teach people and teach people the ropes 777 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 2: of how vootn't go because it's even with a judge 778 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 2: trying to lock me up for what going on? Nothing 779 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 2: going over a bridge. Basically, we voted for her district 780 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:14,240 Speaker 2: attorneys where they enforce mandatory minimums and they enforced locking 781 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 2: people up for smoking marijuana and things like that. We 782 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:19,680 Speaker 2: vote for them. We have to be the ones that vote. 783 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,239 Speaker 2: In our culture, the black community, a lot of us 784 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,319 Speaker 2: don't vote. So it's like white community too. Yeah, you know, 785 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 2: I don't really know. I know that in our community 786 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 2: we don't vote at all. I don't even know anybody 787 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 2: my age. At the age of eighteen, we ever got 788 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 2: up as a group and everybody wanted to vote. It 789 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 2: was like never a thing. We didn't believe in it. 790 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,879 Speaker 2: So my new thing is to teach the younger people 791 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 2: from our culture that come up, well, all younger people 792 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,319 Speaker 2: that come up, that voting is important because you know, 793 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,799 Speaker 2: we have to live under these laws that these people 794 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,040 Speaker 2: are creating, and if we don't vote, we don't have 795 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:53,800 Speaker 2: a voice at all. It's like you don't even count. 796 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 2: And a lot of times you look at TV even 797 00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:00,680 Speaker 2: they had a campaign that said voter or yeah. I 798 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:02,759 Speaker 2: always seen it, but I never really knew what it meant. 799 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,480 Speaker 2: It was that probably was like eighteen years old when 800 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 2: they did that campaign. I never really understood it. But 801 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 2: nowadays I understood. It's like you even vote, or you 802 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:16,279 Speaker 2: get house done a regime which will eventually kill you, 803 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:19,960 Speaker 2: if not by jail, not by placing you in a 804 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:23,359 Speaker 2: keeping you in a ruthless environment, it will turn out 805 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 2: bad for you, basically. And I just believe that if 806 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,920 Speaker 2: we vote, if we make our presence on like justice reform. 807 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:34,800 Speaker 2: Justice reform right now is the number one topic in America. 808 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,560 Speaker 2: Probably so me too. Justice reform. These are like the 809 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,279 Speaker 2: biggest topics of America, And I think if we make 810 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,640 Speaker 2: this topic big enough politically, a lot of people would 811 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:49,279 Speaker 2: have to lean towards being leaning on these topics and coming. 812 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 1: To like I want you as leaning, i'd say appropriate. 813 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,800 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I say, I say punishment to fit the crime, 814 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 6: because by the way, I'm not leaning. 815 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: I want appropriate punishment. 816 00:38:58,680 --> 00:38:59,200 Speaker 2: And that was right. 817 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 5: That was that was right. 818 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 2: And and when we even speaking lenient, like I would say, 819 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 2: like what is lean and this lead into how barbaric 820 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 2: jail prisons are. 821 00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 5: Right, But before you go there, you know, I've been 822 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:15,440 Speaker 5: on the board of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, was a 823 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 5: great organization for over twenty five years now, and our 824 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,719 Speaker 5: motto is let the punishment fit the crime. Yeah, I mean, 825 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 5: nobody's advocating for chaos. Nobody wants a society that is like, 826 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:26,080 Speaker 5: you know. 827 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:27,560 Speaker 1: I want to feel I want to feel safe. 828 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,399 Speaker 6: Everybody does want I want my daughter to be safe, 829 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 6: I want your family to be safe. 830 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 5: But I want his kids to be safe too. 831 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 2: In some situations though, that the crimes are so high 832 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,880 Speaker 2: up is like what is lenient? Like if something like basically. 833 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,839 Speaker 6: But I'll make something really simple like two how many 834 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:45,800 Speaker 6: people I say, how many people are in prison and 835 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 6: jail today are on probation because they have a drug problem. 836 00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:53,200 Speaker 1: It's more than a million. Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm not 837 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,959 Speaker 1: talking about selling drugs. I'm anyone who smoked weed. 838 00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 6: How could you possibly we just becoming legal everywhere. How 839 00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:02,240 Speaker 6: could you possibly put someone in the criminal trust system 840 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:03,720 Speaker 6: for joining something that's becoming legal? 841 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: Makes absolutely no sense. 842 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 6: Someone had a problem with percocet, Why do you send 843 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,319 Speaker 6: them a jail, send to rehab It makes no sense. 844 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 6: So to me, that's that's where the punishment needs to 845 00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:12,839 Speaker 6: fit the crime. 846 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: I already take everybody who has a drug problem. Yeah, 847 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,080 Speaker 1: I don't get them help so they solve the drug problem. 848 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,400 Speaker 2: But it's like it's deep as this, Like if I 849 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 2: sell drugs and the cops come to my house and 850 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,120 Speaker 2: I'm not there, my mom get found guilty for these 851 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 2: drugs in my house and the drugs are in her house. 852 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 2: She may know these drugs are in her house and 853 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:33,800 Speaker 2: she gets found guilt. The people moms are getting thirty 854 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 2: years in prison in federal prison for stuff like that. 855 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,400 Speaker 2: Like your mom got thirty years in prison because she 856 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,319 Speaker 2: didn't get your thirty years. It's like a lot, you 857 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 2: know what. Thing. So that's a life sentence, that's death, right, 858 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:45,399 Speaker 2: And you. 859 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:49,719 Speaker 5: Talked about that earlier and about how people get caught 860 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:51,319 Speaker 5: up just because there's death. 861 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:53,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's deaf, like you don't want to send you 862 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,239 Speaker 2: to prison, even though she might preach to you every 863 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,319 Speaker 2: day that you're selling drugs. You're getting out of my 864 00:40:58,320 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 2: house and she knows wrong, but. 865 00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:02,080 Speaker 1: You have son's not going to this. 866 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:04,920 Speaker 5: Know this that if you're in a car with someone 867 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:07,200 Speaker 5: who's got drugs and you get pulled over and they 868 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 5: find the drugs, it belongs to everybody unless somebody takes 869 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 5: responsibility for it, and nobody ever does. Nobody ever goes, 870 00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:15,359 Speaker 5: oh yeah, those are mine, right. So this is how 871 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,400 Speaker 5: crazy the system is, where you could just be next 872 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,160 Speaker 5: to someone who's doing something wrong and then you get ed. 873 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 2: I'm not even talking about four innocis. I'm just talking about, like, say, 874 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:24,960 Speaker 2: if you come from where I come from, like your 875 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 2: mom on a crack, she's a strung out fiend. You 876 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,520 Speaker 2: thirteen years old, you got a seven year old sister, 877 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:33,760 Speaker 2: and you coming in the house, it's just baking soda 878 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,279 Speaker 2: and butter and refrigerator. And when you go out look 879 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,360 Speaker 2: out the window, it's people on the corner selling weed, marijuana, 880 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,319 Speaker 2: crack cocaine, and they running in fast cash and your 881 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 2: little sister don't got none to eat. The first thing 882 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:47,680 Speaker 2: you're gonna do is go outside and pick up like 883 00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:50,440 Speaker 2: this is like normal, Like, Mike, if you was in 884 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 2: a situation, I bet a million dollars on it that 885 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:55,360 Speaker 2: you would go outside and pick out of a drug. 886 00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,880 Speaker 2: If Kylie was in the house, you seven, you fourteen. 887 00:41:58,880 --> 00:41:59,880 Speaker 1: Hard have made work for me. 888 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,320 Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm saying. I'm talking about stuff. No, 889 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:03,960 Speaker 2: I'm talking about if you don't have any of this 890 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,600 Speaker 2: going on, and you're poor, like you don't have any 891 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,319 Speaker 2: family in the house, and you come see Kylie and there, 892 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,400 Speaker 2: but after a while, this is gonna this is going on. 893 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 6: But five that's also where should that person have no punishment? No, 894 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:19,920 Speaker 6: should they be set to jail for thirty years? Especial 895 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 6: ridiculous thing I've ever heard. 896 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:22,239 Speaker 1: And that's why it said to me. 897 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 2: But even if you bring it down to ten years, 898 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 2: it's not even a ten year thing. Ten years will 899 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 2: ruin your life. So like what they got is leaning, 900 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 2: is not even leaning, like it's the thing the rates 901 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 2: of boostep so high, like what they call like I 902 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,359 Speaker 2: watch media and social send them to prison. Like even 903 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:40,840 Speaker 2: when people be like he should have went to prison, 904 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,680 Speaker 2: he breaks broke probation. Even if I did break probation. 905 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:48,000 Speaker 2: If I did commit a crime ten years ago and 906 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,080 Speaker 2: I broke probation, people are like, send them back to prison. 907 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 2: I'm like, do you know what prison is like? When 908 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,680 Speaker 2: I say shackled up in a cage, I mean like 909 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,440 Speaker 2: shack of real change. When you take a baby step 910 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,080 Speaker 2: is cutting your legs and like the same thing you 911 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,400 Speaker 2: see in a slavery movie. It's the same thing. And 912 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,920 Speaker 2: I'm like, do people really understand what they saying, like 913 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 2: send them to prison. Like Mike came to myself. Mike 914 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:10,759 Speaker 2: was like, he was like, it's not bad as it 915 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 2: could be in my head. 916 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:13,759 Speaker 6: I'm like, oh, but that's because I'm an optimistic person 917 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 6: and I always want to look at things positively. 918 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,080 Speaker 2: And it's ten degrees. I don't have a tallest seat. 919 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,360 Speaker 2: The water that I'm coming out of my sink is 920 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,880 Speaker 2: the same water connected to the tall is filthy. Like 921 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:28,359 Speaker 2: it's like there's ten mices in my cell at night 922 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 2: running around you like is you can't even imagine it? 923 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:34,520 Speaker 2: And I'm like, I'm here, I didn't hurt anybody. I 924 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:35,719 Speaker 2: didn't kill anybody. 925 00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:37,400 Speaker 1: I didn't by the way, they think it bothers me 926 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:37,839 Speaker 1: so much. 927 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,279 Speaker 6: The amount of people I've told about your story and 928 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,919 Speaker 6: everyone it's now proven that you were wrongfully convicted because 929 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,160 Speaker 6: we have a cop who is one of the two 930 00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:48,200 Speaker 6: arresting officers who sign an APPI davit saying no, you 931 00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:50,319 Speaker 6: didn't point the gun, which what you were charged for. 932 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:54,920 Speaker 6: Yet yeah, and your probation violations where you popped a 933 00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:57,759 Speaker 6: wheelie on a motorcycle, you broke up a fight in 934 00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:01,040 Speaker 6: an airport, yet there are people put them back in 935 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:03,880 Speaker 6: jail for ten years, which is it shows how backwards 936 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:05,439 Speaker 6: so many people are in this country as well. 937 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:07,719 Speaker 2: Just when you speak on jail that is like it's 938 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:10,120 Speaker 2: just like it's just like a place, a hotel where 939 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 2: you go to sit at. Nah, it's some shit that 940 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,799 Speaker 2: will ruin your whole train of thought, like you were 941 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,680 Speaker 2: in here, Like the matches sleeping on is probably four 942 00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:21,560 Speaker 2: inches thick, and after that it is metal and cement, 943 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:25,520 Speaker 2: Like you got eighty minutes. These guys eighty years old 944 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,960 Speaker 2: sleeping on mattresses and stuff, like they didn't kill anybody. 945 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:32,279 Speaker 2: They may have been on probation and they fell in 946 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:34,920 Speaker 2: the after felling in. You eighty years old, You you poor, 947 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:38,440 Speaker 2: You've been in the system so long it's hard to explain. 948 00:44:38,520 --> 00:44:40,040 Speaker 2: You have to see it and be there. Like even 949 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 2: what they do with juveniles, They got juveniles locked in cages. 950 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,520 Speaker 2: These are cement cages that they had these kids, and 951 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,280 Speaker 2: most of these kids didn't kill anybody. 952 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,040 Speaker 1: Now tell you something. I was so proud of you, 953 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 1: but it's a scary story. 954 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,640 Speaker 6: So the day that I brought Robert Craft to visit 955 00:44:55,719 --> 00:45:00,960 Speaker 6: make in prison, we were sitting there and we were 956 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:02,440 Speaker 6: just kind of talking, and I was really just kind 957 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:07,160 Speaker 6: of listening to Robert Meek talking. And Robert looked at 958 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:10,480 Speaker 6: me and he said, you know, I don't understand how 959 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,080 Speaker 6: you're handling this. How are you so happy? He said, Like, 960 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,239 Speaker 6: last time I was with you, we were on a 961 00:45:16,280 --> 00:45:19,920 Speaker 6: plane flying to an All Star game and you were 962 00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:22,160 Speaker 6: on the top of the world. Now you're in an 963 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:25,839 Speaker 6: orange jumpsuit, locked in prison. You've got to smile from 964 00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:29,719 Speaker 6: ear to ear. And Mick, he's generally pretty quick with 965 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:31,560 Speaker 6: his answer. You thought about it for about thirty seconds, 966 00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:33,640 Speaker 6: and he looked at Robert and he said, you know, 967 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:37,680 Speaker 6: this has been my entire adult life. I was wrongfully 968 00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:40,200 Speaker 6: convicted for a crime in and commit I've been sent 969 00:45:40,239 --> 00:45:43,000 Speaker 6: back to prison multiple times, never committed a new crime. 970 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,839 Speaker 6: But this is the first time people are actually fighting for me, 971 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:47,960 Speaker 6: and that makes me so happy. So for me, I 972 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:51,759 Speaker 6: was mortified at the situation, but completely proud of how 973 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:53,840 Speaker 6: well he was handling that horrific situation. 974 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:56,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is the best situation I've ever been there 975 00:45:56,280 --> 00:45:58,600 Speaker 2: as far as dealing with the system, with having like 976 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:02,399 Speaker 2: real credible people stand behind me, because, like Mike said, 977 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:04,720 Speaker 2: I'm telling them, like, yo, you really think I should 978 00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,640 Speaker 2: if y'all had guns in here, You're not even police officers. 979 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:10,040 Speaker 2: If I came in here all y'all had firearms and 980 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:12,400 Speaker 2: I came in here pointing a gun nine times out 981 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:13,440 Speaker 2: of ten, where would I be? 982 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:14,760 Speaker 5: Of course? 983 00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:18,000 Speaker 2: So when the police off guns against a cop Probyn, Yeah, 984 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:22,320 Speaker 2: cops are trained to neutralize people who cause threat towards 985 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:25,080 Speaker 2: their lives, Like this is like normal, Like you get 986 00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 2: away with this, This is what you should do. You're 987 00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,680 Speaker 2: trained to do this, not me one on one with 988 00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,320 Speaker 2: a cop, like and you know, one on one, anybody 989 00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:34,799 Speaker 2: could get scared and want to run away. Now this 990 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,839 Speaker 2: is a group of cops doing a full blown read 991 00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:40,759 Speaker 2: and me being accused of pointing a gun at all 992 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:43,520 Speaker 2: of them. Man, so so so. 993 00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:45,600 Speaker 5: Me, we're down to uh, we're running out of time 994 00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:48,719 Speaker 5: with one more question, which is a hard one for me. 995 00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:50,960 Speaker 5: There's so many questions I want to ask you and Michael, 996 00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:53,000 Speaker 5: but I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna narrow it down 997 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:55,880 Speaker 5: to one. Before I do that, I want to remind 998 00:46:55,960 --> 00:47:00,440 Speaker 5: people who are listening vote, vote and vote vote in 999 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:03,440 Speaker 5: your local races and your DA's races and your judges races. 1000 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:05,759 Speaker 5: Your vote counts. We have votes, we have races that 1001 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,480 Speaker 5: actually ended up tied, right, I mean, your vote counts. 1002 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:11,080 Speaker 2: And you, judge, don't have to be white against the 1003 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:14,279 Speaker 2: black to be racist. It could be white on white racism, 1004 00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,399 Speaker 2: it could be black on black racism. And make sure 1005 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:19,880 Speaker 2: you vote for the right people. And when you vote 1006 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:25,960 Speaker 2: for judges, nobody really knows because you just see a judge. 1007 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:27,120 Speaker 6: On DA you can make good decisions. And people knew 1008 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:29,160 Speaker 6: when they voted for the DA in Pennsylvania that he 1009 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,880 Speaker 6: was a more thoughtful person on the criminal justice system. 1010 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,160 Speaker 6: And there been lots of new DA's that have had 1011 00:47:34,400 --> 00:47:37,320 Speaker 6: much more modern approaches. That approach hasn't been lock everybody 1012 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:39,600 Speaker 6: up and put all black American in prison. It's been 1013 00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:44,000 Speaker 6: let's have it accurate punishment for a crime, and that's 1014 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:45,040 Speaker 6: who you should be voting for. 1015 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,279 Speaker 5: And I'm going to say one more thing before I 1016 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,520 Speaker 5: turned the last question over to you, which is, everybody 1017 00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:52,480 Speaker 5: who's out there, at some point you're going to get 1018 00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:54,840 Speaker 5: asked to serve on a jury. Nobody likes it. We 1019 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:56,839 Speaker 5: get those things in the mail, We're like, oh my god, 1020 00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:58,919 Speaker 5: I got a time for this whatever. It's a big 1021 00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:03,080 Speaker 5: paint of you got to go because when you go, 1022 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:05,200 Speaker 5: there might be a meek Mill in front of you, 1023 00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:09,080 Speaker 5: there might be somebody else who's meeting and Eric Riddick 1024 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:10,759 Speaker 5: in front of your case that all three of us 1025 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:12,319 Speaker 5: are involved with. Then we're going to get him out 1026 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,080 Speaker 5: come hell or high water. So get up, get out, 1027 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:20,040 Speaker 5: and go vote, and go serve on the jury because 1028 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:22,680 Speaker 5: the ask you save could be your own. And now, 1029 00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:25,600 Speaker 5: rather than ask a final question, I'm just going to 1030 00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:27,399 Speaker 5: do what I do at the end of the show, 1031 00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:29,279 Speaker 5: which is I always say it's my favorite part of 1032 00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:30,879 Speaker 5: the show, and I think it's probably the audience's favorite 1033 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,240 Speaker 5: part of the show too, which is when I stop 1034 00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:37,040 Speaker 5: talking and just turn the mic over to you for 1035 00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:40,279 Speaker 5: final last words. And Michael, I'm going to let you 1036 00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:43,319 Speaker 5: go first and then me can back clean up and 1037 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:45,399 Speaker 5: close out the show. So, Michael, what would you want 1038 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:47,359 Speaker 5: to tell people? How could they get involved? What can 1039 00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,400 Speaker 5: they do? What's the solution? 1040 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:53,000 Speaker 6: Well, I think we're in a great position because I 1041 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,480 Speaker 6: actually think this is a big problem that needs to 1042 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,359 Speaker 6: be addressed. I think it's going to be I think 1043 00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:00,560 Speaker 6: it would just take common sense to this juice problem. 1044 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:02,160 Speaker 6: We're going to make the world a better place. And 1045 00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 6: I'm actually for a guy who had absolutely zero point 1046 00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:10,759 Speaker 6: zero exposure to the criminal justice system until I met Meek, 1047 00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:13,680 Speaker 6: and I'm still really didn't understand it until November sixth 1048 00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:16,799 Speaker 6: of last year. I'm really optimistic because I believe that 1049 00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:22,120 Speaker 6: this is a completely broken system that with a lot 1050 00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:24,200 Speaker 6: of focus and energy, we can make the country a 1051 00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:26,480 Speaker 6: much better place than to me, that's exciting. So you know, 1052 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:28,840 Speaker 6: what I'd say to everybody is make a difference. I 1053 00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:31,879 Speaker 6: didn't make any difference until seven months ago. And I'm 1054 00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:34,640 Speaker 6: actually you know, I've got three great businesses that I run, 1055 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:36,720 Speaker 6: and I've got a great daughter and great family and friends. 1056 00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,480 Speaker 6: Yet I'm as energized about this as anything because I 1057 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:41,520 Speaker 6: see how broken it is, and I see how much 1058 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:43,560 Speaker 6: fixing it needs. 1059 00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:46,960 Speaker 5: Meek last words, and before you even go, I want 1060 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,759 Speaker 5: to thank you and Michael. Thank you not just for 1061 00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:52,839 Speaker 5: being on the show, but for lending your voice and 1062 00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:57,360 Speaker 5: your energy and your money and your time to this movement. 1063 00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:00,000 Speaker 6: Thank you for your focus. What you're doing is in credible. 1064 00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,879 Speaker 6: Well you've been at this for twenty five years. Mek's 1065 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,640 Speaker 6: been stucking the system for thirteen years, and I've been 1066 00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:05,480 Speaker 6: at this for seven months. 1067 00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:05,960 Speaker 1: So thank you. 1068 00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:08,879 Speaker 5: Well I'm older than yours. I've had more time question 1069 00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:12,759 Speaker 5: Nonethe last time. But yeah, it's a very it's a 1070 00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:14,719 Speaker 5: you know, it's an obsession and I'm not going to 1071 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,440 Speaker 5: stop until we fix it together. So but anyway, so 1072 00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,960 Speaker 5: thank you both again for being here and sharing your 1073 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:24,440 Speaker 5: thoughts and your energy, your collective wisdom. So, Meek, what 1074 00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:27,160 Speaker 5: are your last words for the audience that's out there? 1075 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:30,160 Speaker 2: My last words to the audience, just know I'm dedicated. 1076 00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:33,880 Speaker 2: This is a life mission. I actually suffer from the 1077 00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:37,920 Speaker 2: criminal justice system for over ten years. And you know, 1078 00:50:39,719 --> 00:50:41,600 Speaker 2: I actually walked the walk on the other side of 1079 00:50:41,680 --> 00:50:43,960 Speaker 2: the wall with some innocent men who I know are 1080 00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:48,200 Speaker 2: basically suffering and families are suffering. So you know, I 1081 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:50,480 Speaker 2: felt the pain firsthand, and you know, I'm gonna continue 1082 00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:52,200 Speaker 2: to do what I need to do to help make 1083 00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:58,640 Speaker 2: change and not fix the system, but break the system 1084 00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:04,040 Speaker 2: completely and rebuild it again. Because the way we lived 1085 00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:06,680 Speaker 2: and the things we've been through with the system, it 1086 00:51:06,719 --> 00:51:09,920 Speaker 2: doesn't even take crime or take being a villain to 1087 00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:11,680 Speaker 2: go to jail, you know what I'm saying. And you know, 1088 00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:15,040 Speaker 2: it's thousands of millions of people trapped inside on the 1089 00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:17,640 Speaker 2: other side of the wall that actually need help. And 1090 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:21,160 Speaker 2: you know, I think this is the right season to 1091 00:51:21,200 --> 00:51:26,920 Speaker 2: make change and putting all my efforts onto it, and hopefully, 1092 00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:29,000 Speaker 2: you know, we make change within the next few years 1093 00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:31,640 Speaker 2: and free a lot of people from the prison system. 1094 00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:33,360 Speaker 5: We're going We're going to do it. We're going to 1095 00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:36,040 Speaker 5: do it together, and we need everybody's help. I did 1096 00:51:36,080 --> 00:51:38,560 Speaker 5: want to say that there's a book that really touches 1097 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:40,879 Speaker 5: on everything that you went through called On the Run 1098 00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:45,560 Speaker 5: by Alice Goffman, where she chronicles life in a Princeton 1099 00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:50,239 Speaker 5: PhD sociologist who went and lived on Sixth Street in 1100 00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:54,319 Speaker 5: Philadelphia for eighteen months, and just one thing I wanted 1101 00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:56,919 Speaker 5: to read from here, which I think, really we'll give 1102 00:51:56,960 --> 00:52:00,239 Speaker 5: people an insight into what goes on and then will 1103 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,719 Speaker 5: wrap up. But she said, in the first eighteen months 1104 00:52:02,719 --> 00:52:04,200 Speaker 5: that I spent the neighborhood at least once a day, 1105 00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:06,640 Speaker 5: I watched the police stop pedestrians or people in cars, 1106 00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:09,440 Speaker 5: search them, run their name for warrants, ask them to 1107 00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:10,960 Speaker 5: come in for questioning, or make an arrest. And that 1108 00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:14,360 Speaker 5: same eighteen month period, I watched the police breakdown doors, 1109 00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:17,320 Speaker 5: search houses and question arrest or chase people through houses 1110 00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:20,920 Speaker 5: fifty two times. Nine times, police her helicopters circle overhead 1111 00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:23,440 Speaker 5: and beam search slights on the local streets. I noticed 1112 00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:26,040 Speaker 5: blocks taped off in traffic redirected as police search for 1113 00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:30,680 Speaker 5: evidence fourteen times. During my first eighteen months of near 1114 00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:34,759 Speaker 5: daily observation, I watched the police punch, choke, kick, stomp on, 1115 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:37,759 Speaker 5: or beat young men with their night sticks. That's what 1116 00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:40,960 Speaker 5: the situation was like, It's what it still is like, 1117 00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,640 Speaker 5: and that's what has to change. So please check out 1118 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:45,320 Speaker 5: the book Too on the Run Future of Life in 1119 00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:49,280 Speaker 5: American City by Alice Goffman. And thank you everyone for listening. 1120 00:52:49,320 --> 00:52:52,759 Speaker 5: This has been an amazing experience for me, and once 1121 00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,960 Speaker 5: again you've been listening to Michael Rubin, best known as 1122 00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,680 Speaker 5: the owner of the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Yeah, one 1123 00:52:58,680 --> 00:53:00,200 Speaker 5: of the owners, but the one who's going to bring 1124 00:53:00,200 --> 00:53:05,000 Speaker 5: the championship back to Philadelphia. And Meek Mill again, no 1125 00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:08,399 Speaker 5: need for any further introduction. Thank you again for being here. 1126 00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:09,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for having us. 1127 00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:25,320 Speaker 5: Man, don't forget to give us a fantastic review wherever 1128 00:53:25,360 --> 00:53:28,799 Speaker 5: you get your podcasts, it really helps. And I'm a 1129 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:31,560 Speaker 5: proud donor to the Innocence Project and I really hope 1130 00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:34,799 Speaker 5: you'll join me in supporting this very important cause and 1131 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:38,960 Speaker 5: helping to prevent future wrongful convictions. Go to Innocenceproject dot 1132 00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:42,120 Speaker 5: org to learn how to donate and get involved. I'd 1133 00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:45,240 Speaker 5: like to thank our production team, Connor Hall and Kevin Wartis. 1134 00:53:45,560 --> 00:53:47,840 Speaker 5: The music in the show is by three time OSCAR 1135 00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:50,920 Speaker 5: nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on 1136 00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:55,759 Speaker 5: Instagram at Wrongful Conviction and on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast. 1137 00:53:56,120 --> 00:53:59,200 Speaker 5: Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm is a production of Lava 1138 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:05,920 Speaker 5: for Good Podcast in association with Signal Company Number one