Jay Z goes head up against the justice system by vowing pay bond for incarcerated fathers.
Jay Z has been very vocal as of late using his words to blast the “War On Drugs” and his new resources to tell the Kalief Browder story. Now, he has penned a letter to the United States justice system by vowing to pay the bonds of incarcerated fathers, for Father’s Day.
Jay writes:
Seventeen years ago I made a song, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent.” I flipped the Latin phrase that is considered the bedrock principle of our criminal justice system, ei incumbit probatio qui dicit (the burden of proof is on the one who declares, not on one who denies). If you’re from neighborhoods like the Brooklyn one I grew up in, if you’re unable to afford a private attorney, then you can be disappeared into our jail system simply because you can’t afford bail. Millions of people are separated from their families for months at a time — not because they are convicted of committing a crime, but because they are accused of committing a crime…Last month for Mother’s Day, organizations like Southerners on New Ground and Color of Change did a major fundraising drive to bail out 100 mothers for Mother’s Day. Color of Change’s exposè on the for-profit bail industry provides deeper strategy behind this smart and inspiring action. This Father’s Day, I’m supporting those same organizations to bail out fathers who can’t afford the due process our democracy promises. As a father with a growing family, it’s the least I can do, but philanthropy is not a long fix, we have to get rid of these inhumane practices altogether. We can’t fix our broken criminal justice system until we take on the exploitative bail industry.
He says working on the Kalief Browder documentary led to him becoming obsessed with pointing out the flaws of the justice system and using his resources to lend a helping hand. So much for all of that talk that Jigga isn’t an activist.
Read the entire letter here.
