ov that's how i remember them. that's what they are to me. keith morrison (voiceover): though cal and pam are gone, the old victorian house stayed in the family. it went to matt, the house that was once so full of love. and pembroke goes on as ever a sweet small town, a throwback of sorts, where children not yet born will learn the story of cal and pam and ed and the major across the street. [music playing]

free who? >> the free meek mill movement gave many hope the changes

finally on the way. according to longtime justice advocates like jason. >> in 25 years of working criminal justice reform, can't remember a moment that has the potential to galvanize the public the way that meek mill 's horrible situation has done and is going to do. >> we are with meek mill is cameras go behind-the-scenes to capture his journey to freedom. >> this is too crazy. >> how easy it is to get in the system is probably 100 times harder to get out even if you are innocent. >> dreams and nightmares. the title of his debut album and it tells inner-city kids who over came at violence, poverty and chaos he grew up in. >> it's been a long time since i heard something that naturally charge.

the song is pure adrenaline. >> like meek mill, musicians are from philadelphia. >> i think his style was philadelphian but it was a cadence, a register that he was wrapping in that it felt fresh. >> before he became a hip-hop star, his family said he was quiet and shy. his talent came as a surprise to his mother and sister, kathy. >> when did you realize he had this musical talent? >> i was going to a party and some boys came up and he came up and said she doesn't have to pay. he is's sister. >> you had never heard him right? >> no. >> his music sprang from the tough philly streets. depicted as a war zone with bulls everywhere.

when he was only five years old, a bullet killed his father. was that really his first exposure to violence? >> i wouldn't say that because every year it was always violence, shooting. i mean, one of my brothers got murdered. cousins. all different types of people. that area we lived in, that's all it was about. murder. >> meek so music as a way out. he painted his world in strong -- songs and then in local clubs. he also caught the eye of hip- hop mogul jay-z who send him to his management company roc nation there were red carpets. celebrity friends, and one very high profile romance with nikki michelle marsh. michael rubin, self-made billionaire and co-warner the

philadelphia 76ers. they became -- >> what was your first impression of him? >> you can't judge a book by his's cover. he's a hard-core rapper but he has so many great questions. he reminded me of myself. >> they were an unlikely pair. two sense of philadelphia with dramatically different upbringings. did you come to think that maybe there's two philadelphia's? the one you grew up in and the one he grew up in? >> weathers two philadelphia's are two worlds, the way he has been treated in the way i am treated before my business success, there are different ways to being treated. >> he said he had never been in trouble with the law but meek had. he told ruben he had been on probation for years. >> we were going to atlantic city and he said i'm not allowed to go in.

i said, do you need to note from your mother? he said i'm on probation. >> november 2017, meek was ordered to court on up probation violation. michael rubin went with them. >> the probation officer got up and said all kinds of things about meek mill and said we recommend no sentence. then that district attorney said we recommend no sentence. i looked at the lawyers and said why are we here? >> the judge said he needed to be punished because he wasn't following the rules, she said, for his probation. she brought down the hammer and sentenced him to 2 to 4 years in prison. >> when she said that in state prison, i looked at meek , his eyes turned red and tears started coming out of his eyes. i don't cry but i started tearing up. i looked at him and i said, i've got you.

i'm not going to stop until we fix us together. >> coming up. meek mill behind prison walls. >> what your life like there? when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines

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>> meek has always professed his innocence. >> is this his word against a

police officer's word? >> it was a bench trial. it was a one witness case. the court returned a verdict, taking the word of a police officer. >> the trial lasted a day and robert williams a.k.a. meek mill was found guilty on six of the 19 charges including gun and drug possession and simple assault. prosecutors asked for 5 to 10 years in prison but the judge gave him a break. she sentenced him to 11 to 23 months in the county jail and after six months, she ordered his release. she could've put him in jail for a lot of years, and she didn't. i look at that and think, sounds like she did him a favor. >> the problem is it wasn't the jail sentence imposed but the probation placed on top of it. >> eight years of probation. the judge would keep meek on a short leash, requiring him to

follow the court's rules of my numb random drug test, travel restrictions, and he had to submit his travel schedule for court approval. any misstep called a technical violation could send him to prison. what is a technical violation of probation? >> it can be anything. being late for a curfew. it can be being out of the jurisdiction, it can be something as minor as not being on time for probation meeting. >> meek mill return to his life as a rapper but it wasn't long before he got in trouble. judge brinkley found him and technical violation multiple times. in november 2012, she banned meek from tutoring after he was arrested for suspected marijuana use but never charged. in 2014, she sent meek to jail for traveling without permission and testing positive for

opioids and added more years to his probation. two years later she slapped him with house arrest without permission to work for 90 days. again, for travel violations, and forgiving a fake urine sample. again, added more years to his probation. there's a lot of law-abiding people who say, technical or not, the rules were laid out and you know what the rules were and you violated them. how do you explain there? >> we have never made any excuses for anything. when people are put on probation, they are expected to tow the line. when you put someone on a tight rope, not probation but a tight rope, for their entire adult life, they are going to fall off. >> according to statistics, and 2017, meek was one of a staggering 4.5 million people under parole or probation

supervision in the u.s., one third were african americans. >> t always said to me is michael, there are two america's. michael, there is america and that is black america. he was right. i was wrong. >> while the rapper said in prison serving his 2 to 4 your sentence for probation violation, and investigator looking into his original conviction was about to make a discovery that could change everything. >> i distinctly remember him saying he arrested this kid and beat this kid.

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in some ways, meek mill was lucky. unlike many in the probation system, he had money and powerful people working to free him including billionaire michael rubin. >> look, there has been a huge group focus on this every single day. people are talking dozens of times a day, fighting for him. we all felt personally appalled

by what had happened. >> luke is an investigator who joined the team at roc nation had bankrolled. he spent months coming through documents, tracking down witnesses. >> the only witness against meek was a police officer who arrested him. his name is reggie graham. >> reggie graham served in the narcotics field unit. the investigator tracked on a former undercover officer who had worked with graham for years. >> we worked in the squad together. i talked to him every day. >> jeffrey walker was not involved in meek mill's case but remembers graham talking about his arrest. >> i remember sitting at my desk and reggie graham's -- he was doing paperwork and we all talking. reggie graham was talking about it kid named meek mill. i distinctly remember him saying he arrested this kid, he beat this kid, and ripped a rope

braids out of his head. >> walker said graham was a dirty cop and he should know because he was one too. >> i participated with reggie on one particular job in 2003 where i watched him fabricate evidence. >> in 2013, walker was arrested by the fbi for stealing money from a drug deal for exchange for a letter prison sentence, he pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and testified against fellow officers. so far, his information has led to more than 1000 overturned convictions in philadelphia. brindle was learning more about what was going on inside the police department at that time and specifically about reggie graham. >> in the middle of 2013, reggie graham's last appears as a testifying witness for the commonwealth of pennsylvania. which suggested to us that prosecutors had some doubts

about his credibility. >> there were rumors that the district attorney office had compiled a list of cops too unreliable to testify in criminal cases. kim got that list. guess whose name is on it? none other than reggie graham. >> how did that affect the case? >> one of the things our investigation has uncovered his there were doubts about officer reggie graham's credibility going all the way back to the time that meek was arrested and even before. it is fair to say that graham is a questionable witness at the time he makes this arrest. we know this because graham failed a lie detector test about conduct that occurred before the arrest. >> he also learned the philadelphia police internal affairs unit investigated graham and found he had engaged in criminal conduct and committed that. he was never charged. soon after, graham retired

leaving the force and philadelphia. >> we identified where reggie graham is now living. i flew down to see him. >> reggie graham did not answer our numerous attempts to reach him but he did talk to luke kim. >> the adamantly denied he, better rest. he made thousands of arrest, he said. not one could he think of where there was a problem with the search warrant or where the circumstance of the arrest didn't play as written in the police documentation. >> he denies. >> absolutely denies. >> in february 2018, they filed a motion on the information from graham. that asked the judge to toss the conviction and grant bail. even the district attorney's office agreed the conviction should be overturned. judge brinkley, who had overseen the case had denied the motion

for bail and set a date for a hearing. meek would remain in prison. >> it is something i have never seen a judge to. >> one of the lawyers said the judge has become a big part of the problem for me it. he thinks the role she set were designed to make meek fail probation, again and again. >> there was one occasion where he went to los angeles for a series of shows. one was cancel. he wanted to come home a day early. he was not allowed. judge brinkley did not allow him to come back to philadelphia a day early. >> another time the judge sent it's a rapper to community service and then surprised him. >> he was sentenced as part of his probation to go to a homeless shelter to assist the homeless. the judge showed up at the homeless shelter to watch them do community service. >> i have never in 38 years of practicing law seen criticism leveled at a judge to this

degree. this is really ferocious. >> charles is judge brinkley's attorney. he says she is ethically prohibited from discussing the case publicly. he insists she's done nothing wrong, if anything, she tried to help meek mill. >> judge brinkley believes that what she has done is proper. she has given him enough rope to hang himself. she didn't give a severe sentence in the beginning. she gave him a chance and now she's yanked the chance and said, now you are going to serve the sentence you should've gotten in the beginning. >> after being turned down by judge brinkley, his attorneys filed a motion with the pennsylvania supreme court. asking that he be released from prison on bail. >> the system has really failed him at every step of the way. it has set him up for a situation where he was destined to fail. destined to be thrown back in jail based on minor technical

violations. >> meanwhile, meek's friend michael rubin kept the case in the headlines with the parade of high profile prison visits like with the patriots owner robert kraft. >> he is an amazing young man. this guy is a great guy. >> and with meek's friend kevin hart. >> why is he still here? it's the craziest thing i've ever seen. >> the day of his visit was an exciting one in philadelphia. rubinstein, the 76ers, were looking to close out the first round of the playoffs. after the prison visit, he headed back to his office to get ready. that is when at about 3:00 p.m. he got the call. pennsylvania supreme court had just issued a ruling in meek's case. >> an emotional day in the fight for freedom. >> i've never been more excited. ore excited. now with skyrizi,

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i'm christina ruffini. here is what's happening. vice president kamala harris rallied in kalamazoo, michigan, with former first lady michelle obama to bolster support in the battleground state. former president trump held rallies in michigan and pennsylvania sending mixed messages on early voting. in the philippines, more than 126 people are dead or missing in a massive flood brought by a tropical storm. rescue workers are still trying to reach people stranded in areas blocked off by high waters. for now, back to dateline. welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning. rap star meek mill was imprisoned for violation and supporters run a mission to get him freed. 's legal team uncovered damaging information about the key witness at his trial almost

a decade earlier. now, his controversial case was about to take another stunning turn. once again, lester holt with dreams and nightmares, the meek mill story. tuesday, april 24, 2018, michael rubin was getting ready for the biggest basketball game in philadelphia in years when his phone rang it was a news he had been hoping for. the pennsylvania supreme court ruled phillies fever son should be released on jail -- bail. >> the first thing that went through my mind is he will want to be at game five for the philadelphia 76ers to close at the sears against the miami heat. >> you want him at the game here. >> i knew he would want to be here and i knew the city would want him to be here. >> everyone is hopeful. >> at his office it was a flurry of activity. he allowed our cameras to film at all. >> you understand this is

really days closeout game? >> it will be a special day in philadelphia. >> to get to the prison, rubin it's something special for his friend. tell me about the helicopter. >> the story about the helicopter is meek told me in prison he had this dream that i came to get him in a helicopter. >> i will call josh. >> i called my partner who owns harris casino across the street of the jail may set up for us to land there. >> tip off was only three hours away. on the helicopter, the sixers star point guard ben simmons face timed rubin. >> going to pick him up right now. he will be at the game. you have to win by 50. we are on the helicopter right now. were going to pick him up right

now. 100%. oh, my god. i've never been more excited. >> minutes away from the prison, rubin gets a call from kevin hardwick visited meek just hours earlier. >> we are going to the jail right now. everyone is going crazy. >> the news was barely an hour old by the time rubin arrived at the prison but fueled by social media, big crowds had already beaten him there. an hour later, meek mill, the face of a new movement climbed into rubin's waiting suv a free man. >> it don't even feel real. >> with about an hour left until game time, make in his

prison clothes boarded the helicopter. >> this is too crazy, man. >> did you think this morning when you woke up that you would be out? >> no. hell no. >> what did i tell you? >> he said he found out about his release like most of his supporters. >> i went in my cell and -- >> wait time did you go? >> it came on the news. >> i told you. >> right there with my eyes closed i was laying there. i didn't know what to think. >> the release was breaking news in philadelphia. helicopters tracked his drive to the arena. inside the car, the calls poured in from his mom. >> hi, mom. >> his sister.

>> and his friend, kevin hart. >> you are taking all the credit. >> he is in a jail outfit. >> an hour earlier, meek mill was in a prison cell. now, he was walking into the philadelphia 76ers locker room. >> he walks in our venue. literally, goes in the back and has a barber fix his hair. takes a shower and the players locker room. >> we home. >> has someone bring him clothes and comes out a rings a bell at 8:00. >> well come home, meek mill. >> 18 hours after he walked out of prison, i sat down with him

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[achoo!] needs, alka seltzer plus cold & flu when speed is what you need, bounce back fast with alka seltzer plus. also try the new chewable fizzy chews. no water needed. have you slept since you got out of prison? >> i haven't slept one minute since i got out of prison. it's like a culture shock coming from a small cell back into the real world.

>> less than 18 hours after his release, meek mill sat down with me with his first post prison interview. >> it felt like a dream. when i got in my bed at night, i didn't go to sleep, closed my eyes and i thought, don't let me open my eyes up and i'm in a jail cell and think this was a good dream. in jail you dream of being on the streets and you wake up. you back in prison. i was playing mind games with myself but it felt like a dream come true, exit that way and get back to life so quick. it was fast for me. it was overwhelming but nothing but love and support. i took it. >> well as pennsylvania supreme court granted him bail, his conviction stood. the court denied his request to remove judge brinkley from his case. in june, 2018, judge brinkley denied meek mill's appeal asking her to overturn his 2008 conviction.

he remains under her supervision. >> you are still on bail. do you feel free? >> no, don't feel free. i ain't feel free since the age of 19. i am 30 now. me, i pray. i believe god is my first lawyer. i always believe that. i do not feel free at all. >> how do you explain why your case has become so important? >> i am a public figure. i inspire a lot of these young children. my brand is dream chaser. chase your dream no matter what color your race is or where you come from, everyone goes to sleep and has a dream and wants something they aspire to be. this is what thousands of minorities are going through on a daily basis. they don't have the platform to have anybody speak on their behalf. >> and now they do. >> now they do. at this point.

i feel i may sacrifice for a better cause. >> a sacrifice for those who grew up like he did. a theme consistent throughout his music. >> killing each other. our own people are killing each other. when you hear these young kids talk about guns and think, there's a reason for it. when you hear them talk about death, there's a reason. this is what we went through. the environment is really rough. >> the rough childhood may have led him into trouble with the law. after he served his time in 2009, he never imagined his probation would be its own type of prison. what did probation mean to you? >> i thought the definition of probation was to better you and keep you on track and not destroy you. >> instead of helping him succeed, he said it found the terms of the probation too restrictive. both professionally and

personally. some of the issues you had were , you were required to notify if you were going to another state. >> it's a perfect example. the new jersey bridges four blocks east. my son goes to school in new jersey and my mother lives in new jersey. i have to call someone every day to go and pick my son up to pick him up from school. >> another requirement of his probation was to be drug free. he admits he had gotten hooked on painkillers but did not understand why he was punished. addiction did not make him a criminal, he says. he was sick. >> i was addicted to opioids. on and off. it was always a battle. i didn't get high my whole love. i took off in the music industry. i overwhelmed myself and got caught up in the lights and

fame. i was in the same boat but it was a battle. >> it got you on probation violations. >> it was a violation when i was caught taking pills. we set up rehabilitation for me and they cleansed my body. i had therapy and i never touched percocet again. >> by the time i sat down with him, he had spent one third of his life under the control of the court system. >> young minorities like those, thing away from the is the most important. opportunity is a most important. if i'm not on the or i want to live down the street from he's a killer, he's a killer, he's a robber, i don't have to carry a gun. i can sit on my staff and don't got to hear gunshots. >> meek mill is determined to use his fame and expense to fight for criminal justice reform, and he is found partners because in philadelphia, change is in the

air. >> a rap star, billionaire, and a crusading da sharing a common cause. fixing the system they say is broken. coming up. >> rising up for reform. >> i feel god put me in a position to be the voice for the voiceless. the voiceless. ♪♪ when your child has moderate-to-severe eczema, it's okay to for them to show off. show off their clearer skin and noticeably less itch with dupixent.

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(man) look at this silly little sailboat... these men of means with their silver spoons,% niacinamide. eating up the financial favors of the 1%. what would become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash, unlimited deposit bonuses and handsome retirement matching? they would descend into chaos. merciless chaos. it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevin's plans for the fall? he's going to college.

out of state, yeah. -yeah in the fall. change of plans, i've decided to stay local. oh excellent! oh that's great! why would i ever leave this? -aw! we will do anything to get him gaming again. you and kevin need to fix this internet situation. heard my name! i swear to god, kevin! -we told you to wait in the car. everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming! i'm gonna need to charge you for three people. for many justice advocates,

the case represents the path to reform. >> i feel were entering a new age of activism. >> the founding board member the innocence project. >> young people taking to the streets like they haven't since probably the vietnam era. now, with one of their heroes, beak mill going through this nightmare situation and shining a light on this broken system of ours. >> advocates say the system is a revolving door for people of color. too many are incarcerated and even when they get out of prison, they're stuck in the probation system for years. >> we have to push back against politics of fear and anger. >> the founder the equal justice initiative. >> the case of meek mill represents the critical problem we have in america which is we have become the most punitive society in the world.

the highest can incarceration rate. we are throwing away people. one in three male babies are expected to go to jail or prison and nobody seems upset about that. it's shameful. >> one person making changes is larry, longtime civil rights attorney, now district attorney of meek mill's hometown, philadelphia. in 2019, he filed an appeal with the pennsylvania superior court asking for a new trial for meek mill and a new judge. too months later the court granted both request. rather than retry the rapper. they offered a deal. in august 2019, more than a decade after his original conviction, robert rihmeek williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun violation in exchange, prosecutors dropped all other charges against him.

>> the sentence is no further penalty. >> outside the courthouse, meek mill's thanked his supporters. >> i'm not on probation no more. thank god. appreciate that a lot. >> and vowed to keep fighting for them. >> i will continue to do what i do with the reform movement and help the people who help me. >> a mission the district attorney shares. >> we call ourselves a land of freedom. what we are is the most incarcerated company in the world. >> is the answer to lock fewer people up? >> that's the answer absolutely. we have not been focusing on the 6% of criminals who commit 60% of crime because were locking up everybody. >> how do you help people understand the system can work with them when they say what is a huge injustice. >> you change it. the only way you can convince people there is integrity and

prosecution is by trying to prosecute with integrity. i'm not speaking of myself because i view it as a movement. >> shortly after taking office, he sent out this memo to his prosecutors, laying out new guidelines that many experts have called groundbreaking. >> they are based on science rather than tuition. we accept science and medicine. i don't know why we don't accept it in criminal justice. >> the guidelines are designed to reduce the prison population and bring fairness to sentencing. >> we have a policy you don't ask for more than six months for a technical violation of probation or parole, absent extraordinary circumstances. often we don't violate them at all, let's find alternate ways other than spending more taxpayers money on jail. >> in the case of meek mill's probation, the district attorney's office requested no

jail time at all but the judge sent them away for two to 4 years. it would be your position's case stands as a symbol of what's wrong with the criminal justice system? >> i think a lot of people view it that way. the irony here is that no one lifted up a poor person. no one lifted up, not famous. no one lifted up someone who is alleged technical violations may even be less serious. >> there are a lot of meek mill in the system. >> i salute that god with all my heart. larry krasner. the approach he came to put a stop to mass incarceration. >> meek understands too well after his decade-long journey to the justice system that his case is hardly unique. >> we've always been divided in america where it's always black- and-white. i don't call it black and white.

a lot of black people in prison. a lot of spanish men in prison. these laws and policies are made to keep most of these minorities trapped forever. >> when i think how much it's changed because of the me too movement, he will be to criminal justice reform what's happened to the me too movement. i think he will shine a giant light on this incredible problem we have. i think it will make it better. >> he made himself a catalyst for real change. i hope this isn't something he takes for granted. >> is there a special responsibility? you are free. you have these people rallied to your cause. do you feel you are on a bigger platform? >> i feel god put me in a position to be a voice for the voiceless. >> a responsibility that he

says he takes two heart. >> at this point it's not about me. it's about thousands of others that's caught in that situation. how can we fix young black men going to jail for frivolous reasons? other young children growing up without fathers in their homes. >> what would you say? >> let's continue, let's retire the meek mill hashtag and make it hashtag justice reform. . hello, i am andrea canning and this is "dateline".

he was not my