Meek Mill’s Appeals Are Still Alive – Kevin Harden

On Nov. 6, Meek Mill, a platinum-selling rapper and Philadelphia native, was sentenced to two and four years in state prison over multiple parole violations stemming from a 2007 case. This decision was handed down by Judge Genece Brinkley, the presiding judge in Meek’s case since 2009.

The legal team of the Philly rapper has, unsurprisingly, been fighting the judgments against their client every step of the way.

“Just today, we appealed this unfair and improper sentence to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and will ask the court to release Mr.Williams on bail pending appeal,” Mill’s lawyer Brian McMonagle told NPR in a statement on Dec. 7. “We will not rest until we secure Mr. Williams’ freedom.”

One part of the strategy of Mill’s legal team has focused on Judge Brinkley herself. The team has asserted in interviews and in official court documents that the judge has behaved unprofessionally with the rapper, accusing her of requesting a name-drop in a song or suggesting Meek get new management.

“Meek’s appeals are still alive and well,” Kevin Harden Jr., a personal injury attorney at Ross Feller Casey and former public prosecutor in Philadelphia, tells NPR. “I expect them to continue pursuing emergency petitions based on the recusal issue and the bail issue.”