Michael D. Morrison is the 2026 PBUS National Bail Agent of the Year, President of the Mississippi Bail Agents Association, and a 35-year bail professional writing on public safety, pretrial policy, and criminal justice accountability across America
constitutional bail rights
Circuit courts handle some of the government’s most consequential daily work. People are jailed or released on bond. Cases are dismissed, continued, negotiated, tried, or resolved. Sentences are imposed. Victims, defendants, witnesses, families, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, clerks, and law enforcement all pass through those rooms. Much of this
Mike Morrison Bail Bonding
The Beef Paradox Americans are eating less beef and paying more for it — so why does every menu still look the same? Fewer Americans are choosing beef than a generation ago, yet much of the restaurant industry still builds its menu as though nothing has changed. Walk into most restaurants
abuse
A federal judge just ruled the government cannot vacuum up everyone's phone data to find one suspect. It is not an isolated ruling. It is the same pattern I wrote about earlier this week when traffic cameras sold as convenience quietly became warrant-free bulk surveillance networks. Once
Arrest
Traffic cameras were sold as convenience. What they've become is a warrant-free surveillance network — and the Fourth Amendment doesn't have an exception for technology. Traffic cameras were sold as convenience. What they've become is a warrant-free surveillance network — and the Fourth Amendment
Bail
Behind the slogan of “profit over people” is a regulated profession, a private financial stake, and a record the reform movement would rather not revisit. The anti-surety movement has built its public case on a single substitution: take the mechanical reality of a cash bail number, bolt on a
Bail
Behind the slogan is a profession built on accountability, guidance, and service to families in crisis. “Profit over people” has become one of the anti-surety movement’s favorite accusations against professional bail agents. It is a convenient slogan, but it is built on a false description of who we
Arrest
In 2018, Mississippi's bail reform critics were dismissed as fearmongers. In 2026, the numbers say they were right. State leaders rarely go back and check their own work. Once a policy is passed, the people who championed it move on to the next cause, and the communities left
Bail Enforcement
A Ride Along in the World of Bail Enforcement Agents Most people will never truly understand the world of a professional bail enforcement agent because most of that world exists while the rest of society is asleep. The public sees fragments of it through social media clips, television shows, arrest
Public Safety
Two pieces published eleven days apart both name cash bail as the villain — even when their own facts point somewhere else entirely. Two Bail Project pieces landed within two weeks of each other this summer: a June 26 USA Today op-ed by National Director of Policy Erin George opposing
abuse
America built its oil-pricing system for a world that no longer exists. It’s time we said so. While politicians spin their narratives and the news media reads whatever talking points their party handed them, a basic question goes unasked: why is American fuel still priced off a single
Prevention matters, but prevention without accountability will not protect victims or make communities safer. In a recent video posted on Instagram, the Vera Institute of Justice claims that voters understand that “more incarceration and more policing don’t make us safer.” Vera argues that public safety comes instead from investments
Bail
Making a difference all across Mississippi The Mississippi Bail Agents Association began a major upgrade of its education program with the release of the revised Bail Procedures Manual in January 2025. The manual was submitted for peer review to the Mississippi Judicial College, the official judicial education and training body