criminal-justice

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Jay-Z & Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance Donates 100,000 Masks To Prisons


Jay-Z and Meek Mill’s REFORM Alliance is sending 100,000 masks to prisons across the United States.

The REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform organization partnered by Jay-Z and Meek Mill, is sending 100,000 masks to correctional facilities across the U.S.

Jay-Z & Meek Mill's REFORM Alliance Donates 100,000 Masks To PrisonsNicholas Hunt / Getty Images

“It’s a very vulnerable population,” chief advocacy officer at REFORM Jessica Jackson told CBS News. “We’re really worried about the number of people coming in and out of the facility, and the fact that the people living there might be sitting ducks during this pandemic.”

Prisons, especially in New York City, are at great risk to the coronavirus. 231 inmates and 223 staff members at New York City jails have tested positive for COVID-19, as of Thursday.

Jackson says officials in New York City and Tennessee are interested in helping inmates but lack the supplies to do so.

“Overwhelmingly the response was, ‘please provide the masks, we really need them.’ They want to protect the people working and living in the facilities,” Jackson said. “I think Rikers Island especially, they are very aware the virus has hit and so many lives are now at risk.”

“We’re still looking at jail and prison populations that are completely overcrowded to dangerous levels when you’re looking at a pandemic like this head-on,” she added. “This is a movement, but we need all of the voices we can get.”

Many prisons are releasing inmates to combat overcrowding issues.

You can read more about the issue on The REFORM Alliance’s website.

[Via]

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Kim Kardashian Calls Attention To Clemency Petition Of Death Row Inmate, Julius Jones

Kim Kardashian West reminds her millions of followers that Julius Jones has still not been granted clemency.

For a while now, Kim Kardashian West has been leveraging her voice to advocate for the wrongfully-accused. She went as far as pursuing a law degree in order to gain a better understanding of the system she is working within and the power she has to change it. She is now calling attention to the case of Julius Jones, a death row inmate in Oklahoma. 

On Saturday (Mar. 7), Kardashian tweeted a video produced by The Black Wall Street Times based in Tulsa. "It features men in the community reading portions of Julius's clemency petition that is pending before the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole." The petition, which was filed back in October, pleaded for his death sentence to be converted to prison time. The courts have not reached a final consensus on whether to grant Jones clemency or not, but he has been kept alive largely due to the community movement that has rallied behind him. 

Jones and his supporters are arguing that his 2002 conviction was a result of a racist juror. Jones was convicted of the 1999 murder of 45-year-old Paul Howell, who was fatally shot in the driveway of his parents’ home in Edmond, Oklahoma. At the time, In 1998, Jones was a freshman honour student on scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. After finding out in 2017 that a juror used a racial slur to refer to Jones during his trial, Jones filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court highlighting the racial bias in his sentencing. This appeal was rejected last April. Now that Jones has exhausted all his resources, his fate relies on all the voices fighting on his behalf. 

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Kim Kardashian Reveals What Inspired Her Legal Career


Kim Kardashian spoke about raising “four black kids” and how she wants them to live in the best world possible.

Kim Kardashian remains one of the most famous people in the world thanks to a plethora of reasons that don’t really need to be discussed right now. While Kardashian’s fame mostly came from reality TV, the mogul has recently immersed herself in the world of criminal justice. Throughout the last couple of years, she has tried to seek justice for those who have been wrongfully imprisoned. She has been able to get some inmates pardoned and continues to increase her efforts on this front.

During an interview with CR Fashion Book Mirror, Kardashian revealed what made her want to go down the social justice path. As she explains, it was her kids and the fact that they are people of color. Kardashian knows the criminal justice system is biased and she just wants them to live fulfilling lives.

“I’m raising four black kids in this society and our system is so discriminatory against black and brown people,” Kardashian said. “I want to do as much as I can to make their lives easier… I never knew much about the system until I started to dig in, and once I learned and saw how many things were wrong, I really couldn’t stop.”

Regardless of how you feel about the Kardashian family, there is no denying that Kim’s efforts have been a breath of fresh air. She has done a lot of great things it will be interesting to see where she takes this, moving forward.