things we've had an opportunity to share with each other. but i think when i get rid of those, like, base feelings, the underlying feeling is just of gratitude that he was in my life, even for a brief moment in time. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. oh i'm craig melvin, and i'm natalie morales, and this is dateline. free >> make milk. free mcneill. >> i do explain why your case has become so important? >> this is the same thing that thousands of minorities are going through, they just don't have anybody to speak on their behalf. >> now they do? ? the >> rap star, hashtag symbol,

make mel inspired a movement. >> he's been wronged by the criminal justice system for a decade now. >> evwin his first post-prison interview, he tells his powerful story. >> have you seen somebody with their brains blown out? i've seen it multiple times. >> he has this energy about him. >> sentenced to prison for a probation violation. >> it's like mental torture. >> it's effecting him like my life. >> it affects all of us. >> i'm still doing time for that case. >> he violated, he got a stuff sentence. what's wrong with that. >> we take you inside his emotional journey to freedom. we're there for every step. >> kevin hart, jay-z, owner of the patriots. >> i feel like god put me in

the position to be the voice for the voiceless. this is way more bigger than me. >> hello and welcome to "dateline. " countless young musicians dream of fame and fortune. meek mill was living the fantasy. he went from rapping on street corners to rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. then suddenly the rising star found himself in a spotlight he never imagined. what happened to meek mill and how he fought back struck a cord that had nothing to do with music. here's lester holt with dreams and nightmares, the meek mill story. >> we're here to demand justice. >> his plight sparked headlines around the world and protests in the streets. his cases defining a cause for millions,

demanding reform. charging the criminal justice system is corrupt; that mass incarceration and a punitive probation system are unfairly ensnaring minorities. >> we're sick of a system that over incarcerates black and brown people. >> his name is robert rameek williams, also known as meek mill. a philadelphia rapper who has sold millions of albums. in november 2017, he was thrown in prison for probation violations. but the free meek mill movement gave hope to many that justice is on the way. >> in 25 years in working in criminal justice reform, i can't remember a moment that has the potential to galvanize the public the way meek mill's horrible situation has done and is going to do. >> we're with meek mill as our cameras go behind the scenes to capture his journey to freedom. >> this is so crazy. >> how easy it is to get in the system is probably 100 times harder to get out, even if

you're innocent. >> dreams and nightmare sthz titles of meek mill's hit debut album. his lyrics tell the story of an inner city native who made it, overcoming violence--. >> it's been a long time since i heard something that naturally charged. the song is pure adrenalin. kind of mad we didn't have that for ourselves. >> like meek mill, quest love and black thought of the roots are from philadelphia. >> i think his style was uniquely philadelphian. but a cadence a register that he was rapping in that felt fresh. >> the talent came as surprise

to his mother and sister. when did you both realize he had this musical talent? >> when i was going to a party and they were like she doesn't have to pay. this is meek's sister. and i found out that he rappedality the club. you had never heard his tape? >> no. when he was only five years old, a bull lt killed his father. was that his first exposure violence? >> i wouldn't say that because in the area we lived in there was always violence and shooting. one of my brothers got murder. in the area we were in, that's all it was about, was murder. meek saw music as his way out.

>> see i'm the king -- >> he paid his world in songs, first on the corner, and then in local clubs. he also caught the eye of hip-hop mogul, jay-z, who signed him to his management company, roc nation. there were red carpets, celebrity friends, and one very high-profile romance with hip-hop star, nicki minaj. with stardom came new connections to powerful people. like mike rubin, billionaire and co-owner of the philadelphia 76ers. the two met at a game and instntdly hit it off. what was your first impression? >> my first impression is you can't judge a book by its cover. he's a hard core rapper. yet, this guy was asking so many great questions, it reminded me of myself. >> the two were an unlikely

pair. two sons of philadelphia with dramatically different upbringings. >> did you come to think there's two philadelphias, the one you grew up in and the one he grew up in. >> whether there were two worlds, the way he's been treated, and the way i'm treated, the biggest success i've had, are completely different ways of being treated. >> he says he had never been in trouble with the law but meek had. he told rubin he had been on probation for years. >> we went to this place in atlantic city and he's like i'm not allowed to go. i was like do you need a note from your mother he's like no, i'm on probation. >> he was ordered to court on a hearing on a probation violation. >> he got up in front of me and said all kinds of great things about meek mill and said we recommend no sentence. then the district attorney got up and

said we recommend no sentence. i looked that team of lawyers and said why are we here? >> but the judge said meek needed to be punished. she brought down the hammer and sentenced him to two to four years in prison. >> and-she said two to four years in state prison, i looked up at meek and he may not wanted to admit this, but his eyes turn red and i started basically tearing up and crying. i said i got you. like, i'm not going to stop until we fix this together. coming up, meek mills back behind prison walls. >> what's your life like? >> i look back at the case that started it all. did the judge actually gave me can break? when dateline continues. [sfx: ding]

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meek mill was sent to prison, an entire movement setting off a social media fire storm, including meek's friend, comedian kevin hart. >> really trying to get this sentence reevaluated. look, it's just not fair. >> jay-z wrote in the "the new york times" meek mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day. >> when i reads jay-z's "the new york times" op-ed, i thought this is serious. >> meek had been thrown into prison for what many saw as petty offenses. he had recently arrested twice, once for an

airport scuffle and one for popping a wheelie on a new york city street. both charges had been dropped. but the judge had sent him to prison anyway. michael rubin struggled to wrap his head around it. >> put murders in prison, rapists. don't put somebody in prison because they had a technical probation violation. >> meek was sent to this pris for his two to four-year sentence. i first spoke to him in april, 2018. what is your life like there? >> like a caged animal. jail time. >> why was meek even on probation? it was for a crime that happened years earlier when he was 19. on the night of

january 24th, 2007, he was walking out of his cousin's house. a gun in his waist band, when he says a grey charger suddenly pulled up and cops from philadelphia's narcotics field unit jumped out, they were acting on a claim they saw him sell drugs down the street. >> i put the firearm on the ground and they ran up on me and took me to ground and, like put the cuffs on me behind my back and wired me to fronted door like, with my head down. when i came in, it was brutal. it got brutal. it got knocked out about three or four times. you know no one asked me how did my face get beaten in like that? it was just known that a black guy had a mug shot like that >> the officeren the scene,

reggie graham claimed meek point ood gin at him. he was charjed with 19 counts. they say you pointed the gun at them. did you? >> you think that's true? a black male at 8:00 at night with a full -- at least three cops at one time with firearms drawn, do you think i pointed a gun at cops and left there without being riddled with bullets? we wouldn't even be having this conversation. >> he placed his fate in the hands of judge brinkley. >> i've known her honor for decades. and obviously, she had a reputation for always being tough. >> bryan and jordan are meek's current defense attorneys. they did not represent him at his trial. >> some people say she's no nonsense. is that a fair thing to say? >> i think that's a fair

description. >> only one witness testified against meek. reggie graham, the arresting officer. when meek took the stand, he admitted he had a gun but denied pointing it at anyone and he also denied selling drugs the day before his arrest. >> meek has always professed his innocence. >> was this meek's word against a police officer's word? is that what it came down to? >> it really did. it was a bench trial and a one-witness case. and obviously they returned a verdict. >> the trial lasted a day. and robert williams, aka meek mill prosecutors asked for 5 to 10 years in prison, but judge put wrinkly gave him a break, she

sentenced him 11 to 23 months in a county jail, then after less than six months she ordered his release. >> she could've put him in jail for a lot of years and she didn't, and i look at that i think it sounds like she did him a favor. >> problem wasn't the jail sentence imposed it was the enormous amount of probation placed on top of it. >> eight years of probation, we should praise montana short leaves requiring him to follow the court's rules, among them random drug tests, travel restrictions and he had to submit his travel schedule for court approval. any misstep could send him to prison. so, what exactly is a technical violation of one's probation? >> technical violation can be anything. could be being late for a curfew. it can be being out of the jurisdiction, it can be something as minor as not being on time for a probation meeting. >> meek mill returned to his

life as a rapper, but it wasn't long before he got in trouble. judge brinkley found him in technical violation multiple times. in november 2012, she banned meek from touring for a month after he was arrested for suspected marijuana use but never charged. in 2014, she sent meek to jail for four to six months for traveling without permission and testing positive for opioids and added more years to his probation. and two years later, she slapped him with house arrest without permission to work for 90 days. again, for travel violations. and for giving a fake urine sample. and again, added more years to his probation. >> a lot of law-abiding people who hear this story and think technical or not, you knew what the rules were, you violated them. how do you explain that? >> you know, we've never made any excuses for anything. they're expected to tow a line. but when you put somebody on a

tight rope, and i don't mean probation, but tight rope for their entire adult life, they are going to fall off. >> according to the bureau of justice statistics, meek was one of a staggering number of people on probation, one-third were african-americans. >> it's two americas. you got an america where they smack you in the face with a pistol so fast for horrendous crimes and getting away with it. and that's just on our side of america. >> what he always said to me michael, there's two americas. but there's not. he says there's america and black america. i got to tell you something he was right and i was wrong. >> so, while the rapper sat in prison serving his two to four-year sentence for a probation violation, an investigator looking into his

original conviction was about to make a discovery that could change everything. >> how solid was the cases against 19-year-old meek mill? a key witness comes under scrutiny. coming up. >> the only witness against meek was the police officer who arrested him. >> i distinctly remember him saying we arrested his kid, beat his kid and ripped braids. retty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high-quality products. rigorously tested by us. real-world tested by you. and particularly kind to your wallet.

my mental health was much better. my mind was in a good place. but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. >> in some ways meek mill was

lucky. unlike many in the probation system, he had money and powerful people working to clear him, including michael rubin. >> look, there's been a huge refocus on this every single day. people are talking dozens of times a day fighting for him because we all felt so personally appalled by what happened to him. >> he joined a team rubin and rocnation bank rolled. he spent months combing through documents, tracking down witnesses. >> the only witness against meek was the police officer, reggie graham. >> he served in the narcotics field unit. the investigator

tracked down a former undercover officer who worked with him for years. >> we worked in the squad together and talked to him every day. >> jeffrey walker wasn't involved with meek mill's case but remembers graham him talking about his arrest. >> i remember sitting at my desk and reggie graham is on paper work and reggie graham is talking about a kid named meek mill. i distinctly remember him saying he arrested this kid and beat his kid and ripped a row of braids out of this kid's hair. >> he says graham was a dirty cop and he should know because he was one too. >> i participated with him in one particular job where i watched reggie fabricate evidence. >> in 2013, walker was arrested for stealing money from a drug dealer. in exchange for a lighter prison sentence, he pled guilty to federal robbery and so far his information has

led to more than 1,000 overturned convictions in philadelphia. she was learning more about what was going on inside the police department at that time and specifically reggie graham. >> in the middle of 2013, reggie graham's last appears as a testifying witness for the commonwealth of pennsylvania, which suggested to us that prosecutors had some doubts about his credibility. >> there were rumors that the district attorney's office compiled a list of cops too unreliable to testify in criminal cases. brendall kim got that list. and guess who's name was on it? none other than reggie grahams. how did that effect meek mill's case. >> one of the things our investigation uncovered is that there were doubts about officer reggie graham's credibility

going all the way back the time that meek was arrested and even before he was arrested. it's fair to say he was already a questionable witness at the time he makes this arrest. and we know this because graham failed a lie detecter test about conduct that occurred meek's arrest. they also learned that the philadelphia police's internal affairs unit investigated graham, he was never charged, and soon after graham retired leaving the force and fidelity >> we identified where reggie graham is now living. and i flew down to see them. >> reggie graham did not answer our numerous attempts to reach them but he did talk to luke brendal kim. >> he adamantly denied he ever made a single bad arrest. he made thousands of arrests and not one could he think of where

there was a problem with the search warrant or the circumstances didn't play out exactly as was written in the police documentation. >> he absolutely denies? >> absolutely denies. february 2018 meeks legal team filed a motion based on the new information, they asked judge brinkley to toss mcneill's conviction and grant him bail. even the district attorney's office agreed the conviction should be overturned, but judge brinkley who'd overseen meeks case for over a decade deny the motion for bail. and set a date for a hearing. meek would remain in prison. >> it's something that i've never seen a judge do. one of meeks lawyers's judge tacopino, he says the judge has become a big part of the problem for meek. he thinks the rules were designed to make meek fail promotion, again and again. there is one occasion where he

went to los angeles for a series of shows, one of them was canceled, he wanted to come back home a day early, and he was not allowed. judge brinkley didn't allow him to come back to philadelphia day early. >> another time, he says, the judge tendons the rapper to community service, and then surprised him. >> he was sentenced, as part of his probation, to go to a homeless shelter to assist a homeless. >> judge brinkley showed up at the homeless shelter to prove that he was working at the homeless shelter. >> i've never had 38 years of practicing law, seen criticism leveled out a judge to this degree, this is really ferocious. >> judge trudeau's judge brinkley's attorney, she he says she is ethically prevented from discussing her case publicly. he and says she's done nothing wrong here, if anything she tried to help meet male. >> judge brinkley believes with that when she has done is proper, she gave him an rope to hang himself, she gave him a chance, now she's yank that chance and said now you sure

you're going to serve the sentence you should've had in the beginning. >> meeks attorneys filed our motion with the pennsylvania supreme court, asking that he be released from prison on bail. >> the system has really failed him at every step of the way, and it's set him up for a situation where he was destined to fail and destined to be thrown back in jail based on minor technical violation. >> meanwhile a mixed friend michael reuben kept the case in the headlines, with a parade of high-profile prison visits. like with patriots owner robert kraft. >> this guy is a great guy, he shouldn't be here. >> and with meeks friend, kevin hart. >> the frustration for me is why is he still there? literally, it's the craziest thing i've ever seen in my life. >> the day of hearts visit was an exciting one in philadelphia, rubin's team, the 76 years, we're looking to close out the first round of the playoffs. so, after the prison visit, reuben went back to the office

to get ready. and that's when, at about 3 pm, he got the call, the pennsylvania supreme court had just issued a ruling in meeks case. >> coming up, an emotional day in the fight for freedom. we >> only got, i never been more excited in my life. >> when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪♪ ugh-stipated... feeling weighed down by a backedup gut" the joy of movement. miralax is different. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. ...free your gut. and your mood will follow. as with happening fears when

you click catastrophe in ukraine persist. that citing near a nuclear power plant consider -- continues as both ukraine and russia where is the other will attack a nuclear power plant and say the other country did. it also called a false flag operation. then abortion remains legal in the state of michigan, i don't know county block the enforcement of a 94-year-old

ban on a procedure. the 1931 law would've made almost all abortions a felony with no exceptions. now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline. >> welcome back to "dateline. " rap star, meek mill was prison for parole violations. his legal team uncovered damaging information about the key witness at his trial almost a decade earlier. now mill's controversial case was about to take another stunning turn. once again, lester holt with dreams and nightmares, the meek mill story. >> tuesday, april 24th, 2018, michael rubin was getting ready for the biggest basketball game in philadelphia in years, when his phone rang. it was the news he had been hoping for. the pennsylvania supreme court ruled philly's new favorite son should be released on bail. >> the first thing in my mind was meek is going to be at game five for the philadelphia 76ers to close out the series against the miami heat. >> you want him at the game here? >> i knew our players would want him here and the city

would. >> he'll be out within an hour. so, everyone is hopeful he's making the game tonight. >> it was a flurry of activity. he allowed our cameras to film it all. >> you understand this is a really a close out game. game five. it's gooing to be a special day in philadelphia. >> he had something special in mind for his friend. >> it's funny that the story is meek told me in prison he kept having this dream that i came to get him in the helicopter. >> so, i'll call josh. >> so, i called my partner in the sixers who owns harris casino across the street from the jail. and then they set up for us to land there. >> tip off was only three hours away. on the helicopter, sixers star ben simmons facetimed rubin. >> he's going to be at the game, going to win by 50. we're on the heli right now. we're literally going to pick him up

right now. 100%. oh my god. i'm never more excited in my life. >> minutes away from the prison, rubin gets a call from kevin hart, who had visited meek just hours earlier. >> literally everyone is going crazy. >> do you understand how big this is? >> yes. >> there's no discussing it. >> the news was barely an hour old by the time rubin arrived at the prison. but fuelled by social media, big crowds had already beaten him there. an hour later, meek mill, the face of a new movement, climbed into his waiting suv a free man. >> it don't even feel real, man. it's right here. >> with about an hour left until gametime, meek, still in his prison clothes, boarded rubin's helicopter. >> did you think this morning when you woke up that you were going to be out? >> no, no, hell no.

>> he said he found out about his release just like most of his supporters. >> i went in my cell and -- >> what time did you wind up knowing? >> i went in my cell and put on the news. i'm just laying in the cell just now with my eyes closed. i didn't even know what to expect. >> his release was breaking news in philadelphia. helicopters tracked his drive into the arena. inside the car, the calls poured in from his mom, his sister. >> it's a national holiday right now. >> i can't even comprehend. >> and of course, his friend, kevin hart. >> first of all, i did it. >> you're taking all the credit, huh? >> you see the jail outfit. >> an hour earlier meek mill was in a prison cell. now he was walking into the philadelphia 76ers locker room. >> he walks into our venue. literally goes in the back, has

a barber come in and fix his hair up, takes a shower in the player's locker room. has someone bring him clothes. and comes out and rings the bell at 8:00. >> welcome home, meek mill. >> 18 hours after he walked out of prison, i salt down with him to talk. so, do you feel free, truly free? >> meek mill gets his first post-prison interview and he doesn't mince words. coming up -- >> how do you explain why your case has become so important? >> this is the same thing that thousands of minorities are going through on a daily basis. they just don't have anybody speak on their behalf. >> now they do. >> when dateline continues. >> have you slept since you got out of prison? >> no, i haven't slept one

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out of prison? >> no, i haven't slept one minute since i've been out of prison. like a culture shock coming from a small cell and back into the real world. >> less than 18 hours after his release, meek mill sat down with me for his first post-prison interview. >> yeah, it felt like a dream.

when i got in my bed at night, which i didn't go to sleep, i closed my eyes and i thought like don't let me open my eyes back up, think this is just a good dream. because in jail you dream a lot of being on the street, and then you wake up like you're back in prison. so, i was playing like mind games with myself. it felt like a dream come true to exit that way and get right back to life so quick. it was fast, overwhelming but it was nothing but love and support and i took it. >> while the pennsylvania supreme court granted him bail, his conviction stood. the court denied his request to remove judge brinkley from his case. and in june 2018, judge brinkley denied his appeal asking her to overturn his 2008 conviction. >> you're still on bail? >> yeah. >> so, do you feel free, truly free? >> no, i don't feel free since i caught this case at the age of 19. i'm 30 now. me, i just

pray, i believe god is my first lawyer, i always believe that. i don't feel free at all. >> how do you explain why your case has become so import instant. >> i was a public figure, a rapper. i inspire a lot of these young children. my brand is dream chaser, no matter what you do in life, what colour you rac eis, where you come from, everyone goes to sleep at night and has a dream and something they aspire to be. this is the same thing that thousands of minorities are going through on a daily basis. they just don't have the platform to have anybody speak on their behalf. >> now they do. >> at this point i feel like i'm a sacrifice for a better cause. >> a sacrifice for those that grew up just like he did surrounded by poverty and violence. it's a theme consistent throughout his

music. >> i come from a violent like, we're actually killing each other. our own people are killing each other. and when you hear these young people talk about guns and things in their music, there's a reason for that. this is what we went through and the environment i come from is really rough. >> that rough child hood may have led meek into trouble with the law. but after he served his time in 2009, he never imagined his probation would be its own type of prison. what did probation mean to you? >> i thought the definition of probation was to help better you, keep you on track and not destroy you. >> instead of helping him succeed, meek says he quickly found the terms of his probation too restrictive. both professionally and personally. some of the issues you had were simply reporting? you were required to notify you were going to another state.

>> perfect example, the new jersey bridge is in walking distance about four blocks east. my son goes to school in new jersey, my mother lives in new jersey. i have to call someone every day just to pick up my son from school. i shouldn't have to call someone to pick up my son from school. >> another requirement of his probation was to be drug free. meek admits he'd gotten hooked on pain killers but didn't understand why he was punished. addiction didn't make him a criminal, he says. he was sick. >> i was addicted to opioids and percocets. i was never a guy to get high my whole life and drugs was the solution. i actually took off in the music industry and overwhelmed myself and got caught up in the lights the fame. you seen prince died from taking opioids. i was in the same boat, but it was a battle for me. >> but it was a probation

violation? >> yeah, every time i got caught taking pills. they set up rehabilitation for me, cleansed my body and i never touched a percocet again. >> by the time i sat down with him, meek had spent a third of his life under control of the court system. >> for young minorities like myself, being away from ghetto is the most important. if i'm not in the ghetto or the corner, or don't live down the street from he's a killer, he's robber, i don't have to carry a gun. i live in a suburban area where i can wake up and sit on my steps and don't got to hear gun shots. >> meek mill is determined to use his fame and experience to fight for criminal justice reform. and he has found partners because in philadelphia change is in the air. >> a rap star, a billionaire and a crusading d. a. now sharing a common cause, fixing the system they say is broken. coming up.

>> is the answer to lock fewer people up? >> absolutely. >> rising up for reform. >> i feel like god put me in a position to be the voice for the voiceless. voice for the voiceless. when dateline continues. continues. from over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens, day after day. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear. what can i du with less asthma? with dupixent, i can du more.. catching my train... making moves... ♪♪

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meek mill's case indicates a path for reform. jason flom is a founding board member of the innocence project. >> young people getting energized, taking to the streets like they haven't since probably the vietnam era. and now, with one of their heroes, meek mill going through this nightmare situation, and shining a light on this broken system of ours, this criminal injustice system, i call it. >> advocates say the system is a revolving door of people of color. too many are incarcerated and then stuck in the probation system for years. bryan stevenson, founder of the equal justice initiative. >> i think the case of meek mill represents the critical problem we have in america, which is that we have become the most punitive society in the world. we have the highest rates of incarceration in the world, the throwing away

people. the bureau of justice gets that one in three black male babies is expected to go to jail or prison. and nobody seems to be upset about that and i think it's shameful. >> one person making changes is a long-term civil rights attorney, now district attorney of meek mill's home town, philadelphia. krazner filed an appeal with the pennsylvania superior court asking for a new trial for meek mill and a new judge. two months later, the judge granted both requests. but rather than retry the rapper, the d. a. offered a deal. in august of 2019, more than a decade after his original conviction, robert rahmeek williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun violation.

in exchange prosecutors dropped all other charges against him. >> and the sentence is no further penalty. >> outside the court house, meek mill thanked his supporters. >> i'm not on probation no more. >> and vowed to keep fighting for them. >> i will continue to do what i do with the reform movement and help the people that help me. so, i thank y'all. >> it's a mission the district attorney shares. >> we call ourselves the land of freedom and what we are in fact is the most incarcerated country in the world. the answer is absolutely to lock fewer people up. we have not been focussing on the 6% of people committing most of the crime because they're so busy locking up everybody. >> how do you help people understand, the system can work for them? i you change it. the only way that you convince people there is integrity in prosecution is by trying to prosecute with integrity. i

truly view this as a movement. >> shortly after taking office, crasner sent out this internal memo to his prosecutors laying out guidelines many have called groundbreaking. >> they're based on science, rather than intuition. >> the new guidelines are designed to reduce the prison population and bring fairness to sentencing. >> we have a policy that you ask for more than six months of a technical violation of parole, absent extraordinary circumstances. let's find alternative ways, other than jail. >> in the case of meek mill's probation, the district attorney's office requested no jail time at all but the judge sent him away for two to four years. it's your position that his case stands as a symbol of what's wrong with the criminal justice system? >> i think a lot of people view it that way. of course, you know the irony here is that no one lifted up a poor person, no

one lifted up someone who's not famous. no one lifted up someone whose alleged technical violations may be less serious. >> there are a lot of meek mill's in the system? >> there are lot of meek mills who are not privileged and access the system. >> i appreciate larry crasner the approach he had to putting a stop to mass incarceration. >> he understands all too well that his case is hardly unique. >> i think we always been divided in america where it's always black and white. i don't really call it black and white. a lot of black people are in prison, a lot of spanish men are in prison. a lot of laws and policies are made to keep mostly minorities trapped forever. >> i think meek mill will be to criminal justice reform in a lot of ways what has happened to the #me too movement. i think he's going to shine an

incredible light on this problem we have and make it significantly better. >> he can make himself a catalyst for real change. so, i hope this isn't something he takes for granted. >> is there a special responsibility now? you're free. you've had all these people rally to your cause. you feel now that you're on a bigger platform? >> yeah, i feel like god put me in a position to be a voice for the voiceless. >> it's a responsibility that he said he takes to heart. >> at this point it's not about me having a light to shine on my situation. it's about the thousands of others that's caught up in that situation. how can we fix a young black man going to jail for frivolous

reasons and other young children going up with their fathers in their homes. i would say let's continue, let's retire the free mill hashtag and make it # justice reform. >> that's it for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. every one of the most outspoken republican trump critic in congress losing her primary, trump's grip on the gop seems stronger than ever. is there any shaking of the party loose? of the cult of personality. and after israeli forces right several palestinians ngos the united nations says the move cannot be taken lightly. how is the u.s. responding. i've talked to the former head of the u.s. campaign for palestinian rights. it is one of the biggest scandals that you've never heard of. two pennsylvania judges sent children off to for profit prisons in exchange for kickbacks. the judges were convicted and now they've been ordered to