Michael D. Morrison
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
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
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
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
accountability
When there is reason to believe that a Mississippi court is not following a state statute, the Mississippi Public Records Act can be used to obtain the records necessary to examine that practice. Those records may include dockets, orders, judgments, notices, forfeiture records, administrative directives, correspondence, reports, policies, payment records,
Mike Morrison Bail Bonding
Why professional associations struggle for participation—and who pays the price when everyone waits for someone else to lead. One of the greatest challenges facing professional associations is not always the opposition they face from outside. Sometimes it is the lack of participation from the very people whose livelihoods they
accountability
Beyond the headlines: Why Tennessee's Amendment 1 carries a hidden price tag for families, jails, and taxpayers. The public discussion has focused heavily on a handful of serious crimes. The actual constitutional language goes much further. Amendment 1 would allow bail to be denied, when “the proof is
Bail Bonds
Mississippi law is clear that professional surety bail is a lawful method of securing a defendant’s release. Article 3, Section 29 of the Mississippi Constitution says that persons entitled to bail before conviction shall be “bailable by sufficient sureties.” Rule 8.1 of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure
constitutional rights
From Tennessee to Nationwide, the Push to Expand Pretrial Preventive Detention Demands Attention Bail professionals across America should be paying close attention to the debate now taking place in Tennessee, not because every state is considering an identical proposal, but because pretrial release and detention laws are shifting nationwide. According