Jay-Z, Meek Mill join owners of Patriots, 76ers to press for criminal justice reform

A coalition of names in sports and entertainment is taking on criminal justice reform.[br /][br /]Rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z and the owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets and the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots have announced the launch of an organization that will lobby for changes in the probation and parole laws.[br /][Ads /][br /]The [url HREF="https://reformalliance.com/" TARGET="" REL="nofollow"]Reform Alliance[/url] will be led by Van Jones, a CNN host, activist and former adviser to President Barack Obama.[br /][br /]"We don't want people that's in charge, the police areas, to be in danger either," said Jay-Z. "We want to be very clear. If someone commits a crime they should go to jail. But these things are just disproportionate and the whole world knows it."[br /][br /]Statistics show about 2.2 million people in the United States are incarcerated, and about 4.5 million are on probation or parole.[br /][br /][url HREF="https://abc7.com/news/rapper-meek-mill-released-from-prison/3387676/" TARGET="" REL=""]Meek Mill[/url] became a symbol for criminal justice reform activists after a judge in Pennsylvania sentenced him to prison for minor violations of his probation.[br /][br /]He spent months there.[br /][Ads /][br /]The performer said the Reform Alliance is important because he's speaking "for people who don't have a voice."[br /][br /]"I didn't ask to be the face of reform," Meek Mill said. "I don't want to be the face of anything. I just want to bridge gaps and try to bring people together and make the world a better place. Especially for my culture in the environment where I grew up where the system has a system that's basically targeted for people that look like me."]][br /][br /]Jones praised his partners for getting involved in the effort.[br /][br /]"Let me just say this started off as a buddy movie and it's now become 'The Avengers,'" Jones said.