Michael D. Morrison
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
court accountability
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
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
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
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
accountability
Mississippi Changed Criminal Justice Policy Without the Data. Don't Repeat That Mistake. The Vera Institute of Justice is again telling the public that “tough-on-crime” policies have failed and that the country needs a different approach to public safety. Vera is a national criminal-justice research and