More than 35 million Americans need a government license to do their jobs. The public expects every one of them to look the part, and bail agents are no exception. Walk into almost any courthouse or jail lobby on a busy morning and you will see it. Bail agents in
The business philosophy of Warren Buffett's longtime partner offers important lessons about risk, judgment, incentives, and the future of our profession. Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, was one of America's most respected business thinkers. A lawyer
Mississippi taxpayers pay for every courthouse, clerk, and courtroom. They have a right to see the results. With the Mississippi Legislature returning in January, it is time to talk seriously about community and public safety. We elect judges to administer the law, and we place a great deal of trust
The research on first impressions explains why appearance and conduct carry so much weight for a profession that is still defending its right to exist. People decide whether to trust a stranger faster than most of us would believe. In a 2006 study published in Psychological Science, Princeton researchers Janine
Indiana and Tennessee voters will both go to the polls on November 3 and decide whether to rewrite their state constitutions to take away the right to bail. Both proposals are being sold as public safety. Both are dangerous. I want to speak plainly about something I am seeing. There
The Laws Exist. The Accountability Is Missing. Courts across Mississippi are unhappy with their failure-to-appear rates, and they have reason to be. Names are called to empty chairs, cases stall for months and sometimes years, and victims wait on a resolution that never seems to come. Right alongside
Mississippi’s leaders should be chosen by Mississippians, not by people who will never have to live with the results How are we supposed to choose the people who lead this state when not one of them knocks on the door? There was a time when a candidate for the
The criminal justice system has not kept up. Policies and procedures written for a paper-driven world in the 1980s and 1990s cannot handle today’s crimes, evidence, workloads, or technology. The result is predictable: cases that drag on for years, decisions that go unmeasured, orders that are never followed,
Our Appearance Is the First Verdict the World Renders on This Profession There was a time when dressing professionally was simply understood. You did not need an employee handbook or a dress code to know what was appropriate when conducting business. Today, the definition of business casual seems to have
When the doctor-and-pharmacy route becomes too expensive, demand shifts to the gas station In my earlier article, “The Gas Station Conundrum,” I examined the growing presence of kratom and concentrated 7-OH products on gas-station and convenience-store shelves. Those products have drawn regulatory attention and public-
"Why a Candidate’s Legal Record Matters for Community Safety, Accountability, and the Future of Our Profession" In 25 days, Mississippi professional bail agents, our families, neighbors, and friends will head to the polls. The November 3 election will determine who represents us in Washington, where decisions involving
When an Advocacy Organization Turns Individual Circumstances and Government Decisions into an Attack on an Entire Profession. The Bail Project recently published the story of Alfredo, a Jacksonville chef who was arrested following a traffic stop. According to its own account, Alfredo was driving without current vehicle registration or insurance
accountability
When cash is the only way out, working defendants pay with their freedom, their jobs, and pressure to plead guilty. Defendants who are legally entitled to bail are being told that the only way out is large amounts of cash paid directly to the court. Professional surety bonds — a method
Why an AI Bot Can Never Replace Mr. Mike at the Jail When your child has been arrested and the phone rings at 2 a.m., you need to know how to get them out of jail. Who do you call? What will it cost? What happens next? Here in
accountability
Setting the Standard Through Education, Advocacy, and Results That Strengthen the Bail Profession Its work is centered on education, advocacy, court outreach, professional development, public communication, relationship-building, and measurable results. The purpose is not simply to exist as an organization, but to provide value to Mississippi bail agents and
accountability
Why everyday conduct, appearance, and presentation define the future of Professional Surety Bail. The way we handle day-to-day operations matters just as much as how we dress or what we post online. Professional surety bail involves high-pressure situations—dealing with a family that's scared out
accountability
The Standard of Presentation Appearance functions as an initial evaluation. When we enter a courtroom, walk into a detention facility, or represent the profession at a conference, our attire signals our level of respect for the setting before a single word is spoken. Because public and judicial judgment is swift,
accountability
Why everyday conduct defines the future of Professional Surety Bail. Perspective is how people interpret what they see. Image is the impression we create through our appearance, conduct, language, and the way we present our work. For the professional bail agent, both influence whether we are accepted as a credible,
accountability
How a deliberate shift in language is being used to dismantle a century-old institution of accountability. The term “money bail” was never intended to explain Professional Surety Bail. It was intended to discredit it. Professional Surety Bail uses a private-sector guarantor who assumes financial and operational responsibility for
accountability
The More Difficult Flock Camera Discussion Begins After the Data Has Been Collected In my first discussion, Take the Cameras Down, I focused on the rapid expansion of automatic license plate readers and the constitutional concerns created when surveillance cameras begin appearing throughout our communities. The more I have studied
abuse
The limits of hair testing, laboratory interpretation, and the serious consequences of turning detection into conclusions about drug use, impairment, intent, or parental fitness. Drug testing has become an accepted part of our courts, probation programs, workplaces, treatment programs, and child-protection system. Most of us see a laboratory report
accountability
Why National Pretrial Reform Theories Fall Apart When They Hit a Local Courtroom There is an old warning about people who live in glass houses. It becomes especially relevant when national policy organizations begin telling local judges, sheriffs, jail administrators and court clerks how their criminal justice systems should operate.
civil rights
When government gains more power to detain before conviction, the presumption of innocence begins to lose its meaning. For me, the debate over Tennessee Amendment 1 keeps coming back to one basic principle: innocent until proven guilty. There are dangerous defendants and serious cases, and the criminal justice system already
accountability
The campaign talks about five extreme crimes. The actual amendment rewrites the rules for dozens more. Tennessee voters are being asked to rewrite a 230-year-old constitutional protection. Amendment 1 is being sold around five of the most serious crimes — what I call the Terrible Five: terrorism, second-degree