“When we hold prosecutors accountable they will challenge racism in our criminal justice system and expose corrupt cops’ reign over the lives of Black people”

NEW YORK, NY – Color Of Change, the nation’s largest racial justice organization, issued the following statement after the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced Meek Mill deserves a new trial due to credibility questions of the arresting officer.

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color Of Change:

The Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s announcement on Meek Mill proves that when we hold prosecutors accountable they will challenge racism in our criminal justice system and expose corrupt cops’ reign over the lives of Black people.

We applaud the DA’s push for Meek Mill to receive a new trial that fairly proves his innocence. This case is yet another example of the excessively punitive criminal justice system that unfairly targets Black people every day and turns prisons into profit-generating institutions. Often these arrests are arbitrary or racially-motivated and Black people are forced to wait their lives out in prison for a retrial.

Despite the DA’s announcement, Judge Genece Brinkley continues to push the criminal justice system’s excessive policing of Black bodies and refuses to release Meek from prison. From DAs to judges, we demand an end to this corrupt system that disproportionally targets our community.