Judge Calls Meek Mill a 'Danger,' Keeps Him in Prison

Judge Genece Brinkley's ruling was released Monday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 4, 2017 11:21 AM CST
Judge Ignores Outcry, Keeps Meek Mill in Prison
People walk past a placard posted on a newsstand with a message of support for imprisoned rapper Meek Mill, in Philadelphia, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A Philadelphia judge says Meek Mill will stay in prison because he's a "danger to the community." Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley on Friday denied a motion to allow the 30-year-old rapper to be released from a Pennsylvania correctional facility on bail, reports the AP. Mill's attorney says they plan to appeal her ruling, saying it continues a "long pattern of unfair treatment." NBC Philadelphia, which notes the ruling was released Monday, reports Mill's team also wants Brinkley to recuse herself, saying she took on an "essentially prosecutorial" role in the case and once asked the rapper to name-drop her in a song. Her decision comes after the state Superior Court last week told her to act "without further delay" on a 2-week-old request to free the rapper.

Mill was sentenced last month to two to four years for violating probation on a roughly decade-old gun and drug case. Mill's probation officer and a prosecutor had recommended he not be jailed. The Washington Post notes most of his probation violations are related to him leaving Pennsylvania without getting the court's OK or touching base with his probation officer. His imprisonment has sparked backlash in opinion pieces, rallies, billboards, and bus ads. The Inquirer reports Jay-Z twice halted a Friday show in Philly to talk about the case, saying, "If you see a young man put on probation for 11 years since he was 19 years old, that man is being stomped by the system. That man is in jail for doing wheelies and breaking up a fight," referring to probation-violating incidents Brinkley referenced during sentencing in November.

(More Meek Mill stories.)

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