\u201cIt felt so good to be able to help other people, knowing I was in that situation before,\u201d says Myers. \u201cIt was a surreal moment. Justina always shows up, advocates for others, registers people to vote. She deserves this.\u201d<\/p>\n
From probation to probation reformer <\/p>\n
When Myers was 12, she was arrested for aggravated assault when, she says, she tried to protect her mom from an abusive boyfriend. After sitting in jail for 10 days, Myers was given a choice: Take a plea deal that would put her on probation, or go back to jail and wait for a hearing. The young girl chose to plead guilty to the felony and go home with her grandmother. That set her on a path that had her entangled with the criminal justice system for most of her life.<\/p>\n
Around 2008, Myers finally completed her juvenile probation. Then, in 2014, after a fight with a girlfriend, she was arrested again and convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge. Because of her history, Myers was sentenced to 1.5 to 5 years in prison, plus another 12 years of probation. At the time, Myers recalls, the judge told her, \u201cwe\u2019d be in each other\u2019s lives for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took that as a challenge to let her know that I would do everything I could to rehabilitate myself,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not our worst mistakes. Other people, like me, deserve a second chance.\u201d \u2014\u00a0LaTonya Myers<\/p>\n
She got out of prison in 2016, at age 30, expecting to be on probation until age 42. Soon after, she started working for the Defender Association<\/a> as the first bail navigator in Pennsylvania, helping defendants sitting in jail craft their mitigation stories before they asked judges to release them without bail. She became increasingly civically-engaged, telling her story wherever asked, and was also the focus of Episode 4 of Philly D.A.<\/a>, the seven part docu-series on Larry Krasner\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n But still, she was entangled in the system in a way that seemed both absurd and obstructive. One morning in 2019, as she was headed to interview some defendants in jail, Myers picked up a letter informing her she was in pending violation of her probation for \u201cnon-reporting\u201d to her probation officer. Myers says she had called her P.O. in advance of that appointment to explain why she wouldn\u2019t be there: She was, at that exact moment, receiving a Rising Reentry Leader of the Year Award from Mayor Kenney at City Hall. (Even more absurd: Myers had invited her P.O. to attend the ceremony.)<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of calling me, she immediately sent me a threatening letter in the mail that threatened my freedom,\u201d Myers said later in this Instagram video.<\/a> \u201cShe didn\u2019t care enough about my humanity to see if I was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n The Defender Association subsequently helped Myers file to have her probation terminated early, which involved going again before her sentencing judge to plead her case \u2014 something Myers didn\u2019t even know was possible. \u201cThey tell you all about the rules of probation, but not about your rights,\u201d she says. Before a room full of Myers\u2019 supporters, the judge agreed to end her probation.<\/p>\n By then, Myers had connected with REFORM, the nonprofit launched by Fanatics owner Rubin<\/a> \u2014 along with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and rap impresario Jay-Z \u2014 in reaction to the rapper Meek Mill\u2019s onerous probation saga.<\/a> The nonprofit has propelled a national movement to pass state laws that make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to fulfill the terms of their parole and probation \u2014 including, in 2023, PA\u2019s Act 44<\/a>, which creates a standardized and more accessible pathway to early probation termination.<\/p>\n \u201cLaTonya has lived through this system and now dedicates her life to helping others navigate it,\u201d says Erin Haney, REFORM\u2019s Chief Policy Director. \u201cREFORM is honored to partner with her \u2014 she brings her lived experience, talent, and heart to bear in ensuring our reforms reflect the realities of those in the system and reach the people who need them most.\u201d<\/p>\n Myers testified before the legislature in support of the bill, and recalls someone from the District Attorney Committee of PA calling her an \u201coutlier\u201d for the way she turned her life around.<\/p>\n \u201cThat just gave me the motivation to prove them wrong and amplify the stories of people who needed a second chance,\u201d Myers says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not our worst mistakes.\u201d <\/p>\n In 2019, Myers launched Above All Odds to help others like her navigate the complicated probation system. Over the years, Myers and her volunteers have helped people apply for early release from probation; joined them in court and probation hearings; written character letters; served as a mediator between the parolee and parole officers, to explain the circumstances around a missed meeting or other potential violations. She has consulted with REFORM, and helped to raise money for the Community Bail Fund,<\/a> particularly for mothers awaiting trial<\/a>. So far, Myers says Above All Odds has served more than 500 people in Philadelphia and Delaware counties, including helping 250 people secure early probation release.<\/p>\n Myers first befriended Rockeymore when they were both in county jail before serving their final prison terms. They reconnected on the outside; Rockeymore has volunteered with Above All Odds, and Myers has worked to help her since she had her baby last summer. In one instance, for example, Myers called her probation officer to explain that Rockeymore wouldn\u2019t be able to make a check-in appointment because she had no one to watch the baby, whom she is breast feeding.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so used to having PTSD, knowing I have to go to my Parole Officer. It\u2019s been forever that someone has done anything like that for me.\u201d \u2014 Justina Rockeymore<\/p>\n Rockeymore, by this time, had paid her court fees; completed a mandated drug and alcohol program; and fulfilled her community service requirement in part by working with Above All Odds. The only thing keeping her on probation going into the holiday season was a $500 restitution fee she couldn\u2019t afford. In July, her probation rolled over for additional six months because of the outstanding payment; she expected to tack on another six months in December, because she still didn\u2019t have the money.<\/p>\n Myers decided to help, and reached out to REFORM, which gave her the $500 restitution payment. Myers dropped the money off in person at the Delaware County Courthouse, sent the receipt to Rockeymore\u2019s P.O. and got a note back confirming her case was now closed. A couple of days before Thanksgiving, she asked Rockeymore to share her story in a filmed interview. Towards the end, Rockeymore was given the letter that confirmed she is now truly free.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still smiling ear to ear,\u201d Rockeymore says. \u201cI\u2019m so used to having PTSD, knowing I have to go to my Parole Officer. It\u2019s been forever that someone has done anything like that for me.\u201d<\/p>\n To Myers, it was a full circle moment, allowing her to show up for Rockeymore the way others have shown up for her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not our worst mistakes,\u201d Myers says. \u201cOther people, like me, deserve a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE PHILADELPHIA CITIZENS OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Justina-Rockymore-and-sons.jpg\"\/)
Justina Rockymore and her sons, one, a teenager; the other, a newborn. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/JustinaRockeymore_TerminationLetter-Credit_-REFORM-Alliance.jpg\"\/)
Justina Rockeymore and her termination letter. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764777427_704_nl_bolt600-copy.jpg\"\/)
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