Meek Mill and Kim Kardashian West are set to speak at the Criminal Justice Reform Summit next month in Los Angeles. The summit is being held by Variety and Rolling Stone, and CNN host Van Jones will keynote the panel.
The conference will aim to bring together the entertainment, philanthropic, advocacy and policymaking communities to move the conversation surrounding criminal justice reform forward.
"Not only do we face a mass incarceration problem in the United States, but almost 60 percent of inmates currently in prison or jail are racial and ethnic minorities," Jones told Variety. "Uncovering the roots of this national issue and creating a diverse advocacy community is a huge step toward generating legitimate policy change."
Throughout 2018, Kardashian West has been using her star power to speak with high-level politicians in Washington D.C., including President Donald Trump this past May, to advocate for prison reform. She even notably aided in the early release of Alice Marie Johnson who was serving a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. The mogul also recently spoke with Alec Baldwin on his new talk show about her passion for reforming the criminal justice system. "The bigger goal is to get these bills passed that really change the laws," she said.
Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill has become a face of prison reform in his own right following his very public sentencing of two to four years in prison for violating his probation linked to a decade-old gun and drug conviction. The controversial sentencing came at the hands of Judge Genece Brinkley who allegedly had a vendetta with the rapper for personal reasons. Before his release earlier this year, Mill gained support from across the hip-hop community and beyond calling for his freedom.
"Recently we’ve looked at the out-of-control private prison system, how tainted evidence can lead to countless wrongful convictions, and what happens when a vindictive judge uses the parole system to keep one of hip-hop’s biggest stars in jail. We believe that a national effort to bring about criminal justice reform is one of the most important issues of our time," said editor of Rolling Stone Jason Fine.
Other notable panelists include Fab 5 Freddy, close friend of Meek and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, and Get Out actress Allison Williams. Variety and Rolling Stone's Criminal Justice Reform Summit will take place at the Jeremy West Hotel in West Hollywood on Nov. 14.
