Lil Wayne News: Supports Obama Drug Reform Led by Russell Simmons With Nicki Minaj & Others
Fully recovered from his hospital stay due to being "prone to seizures," Lil Wayne is now one of the many celebrities calling on President Barack Obama to focus on changing laws for those facing drug-related incarcerations in the United States.
More that 100 entertainers - including Ron Howard, Scarlett Johansson and Kim Kardashian - signed an open letter that rap mogul Russell Simmons and other civil rights leaders sent to the president on Tuesday urging him to consider a criminal justice reform, according to The Associated Press.
The letter, posted on GlobalGrind.com, has the group of entertainers lobbying for a change in criminal sentences. The group praised Obama's efforts toward drug incarceration reform but insisted "the time is right" to replace jail sentences with intervention and rehabilitation for non-violent offenders, according to the report.
Will Smith, Jennifer Hudson, Susan Sarandon, Nicki Minaj, and others in the group also asked the president to form a panel given the task of handling clemency requests, and encouraged Obama to support a measure allowing judges to waive mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses.
"It is critical that we change both the way we think about drug laws in this country and how we generate positive solutions that leave a lasting impact on rebuilding our communities," Simmons said.
Department of Justice data showed the U.S. jails more of its citizens than any other country in the world, according to the AP. Drug offenders comprise nearly half the federal prison population in the United States.
"You now have the opportunity to leave a legacy by transforming our criminal justice system to an intervention and rehabilitation based model," the letter, addressed the president, ended off by saying. "Many of those impacted by the prison industrial complex are among your most loyal constituents...We request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these ideas further and empower our coalition to help you achieve your goals of reducing crime, lowering drug use, preventing juvenile incarceration and lowering recidivism rates.
"We stand with you, ready to do what is just for America."
