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Black America Responds To R Kelly 30-Year Sentence In The Pen For Sexual Abuse

Black America Responds To R Kelly 30-Year Sentence In The Pen For Sexual Abuse

R Kelly

Photos: Kelly attends a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court, Chicago, Sept. 17, 2019. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)

When R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on June 29, authorities at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn, where he’s been incarcerated, placed him on suicide watch almost immediately.

His lawyers are suing the jail, claiming that he’s been placed under suicide watch punitively despite having no thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

“Nothing occurred during sentencing that came as a surprise to Mr. Kelly,” attorney Jennifer Bonjean wrote in the lawsuit. “While the conditions of suicide watch may be appropriate for individuals who are truly at risk of hurting themselves, they are cruel and unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment for individuals who are not suicidal.”

The lawsuit claims that Robert Sylvester Kelly, 55, is being held under suicide watch to punish him for his celebrity status and he is made to wear a paper-like smock and denied utensils to eat, Pitchfork reported.

This confinement is causing him irreparable mental harm; the suit claims and likens Kelly’s confinement to that of convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, who was also placed on suicide watch though her lawyers argue she is not suicidal. She was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping her longtime friend Jeffrey Epstein procure and traffic in underage girls for sex. Epstein sexually abused girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s, USA Today.

Since Epstein allegedly killed himself behind bars in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has been under heightened scrutiny.

The Grammy-winning songwriter was found guilty in 2021 of racketeering and sex trafficking. R Kelly plans to appeal his conviction.

Black America has a lot to say about Kelly’s sentencing.

Many compared the R Kelly case to that of Maxwell’s.

“Damn he got more time than Ghislain Maxwell,” tweeted Tweety Montgomery.

“She had names to give…looks like Kels didn’t…,” tweeted 30’s Epilogue. Maxwell was privy to the names of Epstein’s high-powered friends who participated in the sex crimes.

Others noted that the two cases should not be compared.

“I hate when you guys do this. Other people getting less time doesn’t mean he should get less. The other party should get more. And it’s not exactly the same situation,” tweeted Alex Edwards.

But some said race played a major factorin Kelly’s incarceration. Maxwell is white. Kelly is a Black man.

“The power of white privilege,” tweeted Don Salmon.

“30 years for RKELLY Is EXCESSIVE for a BLACK MAN, CHANGE IT TO 5; trump not jailed, white SUPERSTARS don’t get 30 years,” tweeted erobertw@yahoo.com.

Kelly still faces more legal battles. His Chicago trial for federal child pornography and obstruction charges begins on Aug. 1, 2022, and Kelly is still facing felony charges involving prostitution and a minor in Minnesota.

Photos: Kelly attends a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court, Chicago, Sept. 17, 2019. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)