Yo Gotti Teams With Meek Mill's Reform Alliance To Push For Prison Reform In Mississippi

(AllHipHop News) Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims stepped up to fight for the rights of incarcerated individuals in Mississippi’s correctional system. Yo Gotti, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, and Roc Nation’s Team Roc helped expose the inhumane conditions inside Parchman prison.

The Memphis-raised rapper is now teaming with the REFORM Alliance to pressure Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves to sign a bipartisan prison reform bill. After passing through the state’s House and Senate by large margins in both chambers, Reeves vetoed Senate Bill 2123 on July 8.

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Gotti is taking part in a radio campaign for the REFORM Alliance that will play on stations across Mississippi. The ads call for local lawmakers to support SB 2123 which is also known as the Mississippi Correctional Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2020.

If the proposal had become law, thousands of people in Mississippi would have been eligible to be released through a simplified parole process. Proponents of the bill argue it would save the state an estimated $45 million which could be reinvested into improving conditions at facilities like Parchman.

“REFORM and I share the same goals – to protect the people inside of Mississippi’s prisons, fix the dangerous prison conditions that led to several unnecessary deaths and improve the state’s criminal justice system,” said Gotti in a statement. “I’m proud to team up with REFORM on this initiative and we hope that Mississippi lawmakers will prioritize this issue and help us save lives.”

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Philadelphia-bred emcee Robert “Meek Mill” Williams and Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin are co-chairs of the REFORM Alliance. Billionaire entrepreneurs such as Roc Nation founder Jay-Z, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert Smith are among the organization’s other Founding Partners.

“Governor Reeves said he wouldn’t make ’empty promises’ on prison reform, but by vetoing SB 2123, he went back on his word,” states Jessica Jackson, Chief Advocacy Officer at REFORM Alliance. “SB 2123 is a commonsense, conservative-backed bill that will reduce Mississippi’s extraordinarily high incarceration rate and save tens of millions of dollars that can be used to fix horrific prison conditions that are the subject of an ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation.”

Jackson adds, “Our new campaign recognizes the effort lawmakers have made on prison reform and encourages them to continue fighting for incarcerated individuals and families in Mississippi who deserve justice and a second chance.”

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In addition, Yo Gotti and Jay-Z worked with Team Roc’s lawyers to file a legal brief asking the Mississippi courts to compel Parchman officials to adhere to strict COVID-19 testing and compliance guidelines. Reportedly, only 132 of the 2,034 incarcerated individuals in the prison had been tested for COVID-19 and 33% were positive for the virus.

REFORM Alliance also sent over 280,000 protective masks to prisons and jails in Mississippi as protection against the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, the organization hosted a digital day of action in Mississippi featuring other local and national groups including Fwd.us, Mississippi Dreams Prisoner Advocacy, RECH Foundation, and Clergy for Prison Reform.