Jay Z Is Going To Bail Out Incarcerated Dads For Father's Day

Jay Z takes a stand against the United States' criminal justice system and its bail bond industry in an essay penned for Time.

"Seventeen years ago I made a song, 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent.' I flipped the Latin phrase that is considered the bedrock principle of our criminal justice system, ei incumbit probatio qui dicit (the burden of proof is on the one who declares, not on one who denies)," he begins in his essay.

"If you're from neighborhoods like the Brooklyn one I grew up in, if you're unable to afford a private attorney, then you can be disappeared into our jail system simply because you can't afford bail," Jay Z writes. "Millions of people are separated from their families for months at a time -- not because they are convicted of committing a crime, but because they are accused of committing a crime."

The rapper says that he "became obsessed with the injustice" of this practice when he assisted with producing the docuseries Time: The Kalief Browder Story, which tells the tragic story of a 16-year-old high school student from the Bronx who hung himself in his early 20s after being jailed for three years, two in solitary confinement on Rikers Island. He had been accused -- not convicted -- of allegedly stealing a backpack, and his family couldn't afford bail.

"On any given day over 400,000 people, convicted of no crime, are held in jail because they cannot afford to buy their freedom," Jay Z writes, adding, "When black and brown people are over-policed and arrested and accused of crimes at higher rates than others, and then forced to pay for their freedom before they ever see trial, big bail companies prosper. This pre-incarceration conundrum is devastating to families. One in 9 black children has an incarcerated parent."

Citing inspiration from fundraisers run by organizations like Southerners on New Ground and Color of Change -- which bailed out 100 mothers on Mother's Day -- he says he's now giving financial support to help bail out fathers.

"This Father's Day, I'm supporting those same organizations to bail out fathers who can't afford the due process our democracy promises," Jay Z writes. "As a father with a growing family, it's the least I can do, but philanthropy is not a long fix, we have to get rid of these inhumane practices altogether. We can't fix our broken criminal justice system until we take on the exploitative bail industry."

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