Send Misty Back To Prison

Send Misty Back To Prison: to dismantle the prison system one legal visit at a time.

My name is Misty Rojo, a Co-Director at a small non-profit. I am hoping to raise $4,500 to be able to do the job I was meant to do. This is my story....

By the end of 2010, I had lost my job, my first car, visits with my kids, my housing, you name it. I had lost it. I had only been out of prison for less than 2 years, the first steady job I was able to get didn’t have their funding renewed. The entire office closed within a year of my being hired.

I had reenrolled in school, and was traveling back and forth between school and my Grandmother’s house 75 miles away. As soon as I got my student loans, I bought an A-to-B car from the side of the road for a whopping $800. This car obviously was not in tip-top shape, but it could at least get me to and from school, my Grandmother, and job interviews.

I began the process of transferring the car’s registration to my name and getting tags and plates. After paying a little over $100 to the DMV, which I had borrowed, I still had to get a smog check and finish paying for the tags and plates.

Unfortunately, I was continually punished for being poor and unable to afford tags for the car. Though I was NEVER pulled over for a moving violation, I became a target with dollar signs to “law enforcement” due to lack of tags. I was seriously charged money for not having money.

Most officers only ticketed me for driving without tags, but a CHP officer who pulled me over one day on my way to class gave me a $1000 ticket for also not being able to afford insurance.

I was given two $75 tickets while parked in the General Relief parking lot on days when I was required to be present for a mandatory job search. In those cases,  the officers knew I had an income of less than $300 a month, yet they ticketed me for half that income in two days.

Once I was ticketed while parked at home, which I could have beaten in court since I still had a temporary tag from the DMV, but my life revolved around questions like “how will I eat today?” and I didn’t have it in me to even argue the ticket. Every time I got the money to finish registering the car the damn thing would break down. So,  guess where the money went? Yup. To fix it.

At that point in my life, it really felt like if I made one step forward, I was pushed five steps back. Not to make this sound like a sob story, but 2011 was truly one of the darkest years of my life where returning to prison started to feel like a better option.

This car allowed me to continue my education, and I will graduate this June with my BS/BA! This car greatly contributed to my mental and emotional well being by allowing me to stay in school. Not having any other productive prospects was hugely depressing and disheartening. I was also able to go to and from the few odd jobs that I was able to get. The struggle was real! 

Most of all, having the car ensured that I was able to spend time with my Grandmother during the last months of her life, which meant so much to me after thinking for years while in prison that I would never see the only person in my family who cared about me. Anyone who has lived in L.A. knows the necessity of a car for mobility, and I had that.

After two years of working and finding the job I am meant to do, I am finally finding some stability along with emotional and economic recovery. However, because I was unable to pay my tickets, I face about $4,500 of retributive debt and a warrant.

I am not asking for support because I simply don’t want to pay; I'm asking because I was punished for having nothing. Finally I am barely digging my way out of the hole I was in. I would love people to support my full reentry and recovery from prison and the aftermath of my reentry struggle so that I can move on with my life and also improve the lives of those I care so much about who are still fighting from within the prison system.

At Justice Now we do all of our work in solidarity with and by centering the leadership of those inside prison. This makes access to prison visits necessary and integral to my work. Not having the ability to do in-person visits makes my work feel disconnected and unnecessarily.

In order for me to be able to make a real impact in this work, and to really connect with community members inside, I need access to legal visits. However, I cannot do legal visits as long as this debt is over my head.

I love my job and deeply believe in the work I do. I am passionate and driven to help those still struggling for safety and freedom. I cannot see myself doing any other work but in this movement. Please help support me so that I may continue to build toward a world without prisons in true solidarity with those most impacted!