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
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
accountability
The Lee Gilley case should concern anyone who believes that a criminal justice system must have consequences when a defendant deliberately violates the conditions of release. Gilley is charged with capital murder in the death of his pregnant wife, Christa Bauer Gilley. He had been released from custody with a
Bail Enforcement
Beyond the Paper: Why Bail Enforcement is the Essential Anchor of Pretrial Accountability How private surety bonds, statutory authority under Mississippi law, and dedicated recovery agents keep the criminal justice system functioning. Most people understand what happens when a bail bond gets someone out of jail. Very few understand what
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
accountability
Constitutional amendments deserve more scrutiny than ordinary legislation because they do not simply change a statute. They change the governing document itself. Tennessee voters will face that decision on November 3, 2026, when Amendment 1 asks them to substantially expand the circumstances in which a person accused of a crime
Criminal Justice
The Questions that No Crime Summit is willing to Ask! Mississippi changed sentencing, bail, fine enforcement, driver’s-license consequences, and criminal procedure. What happened when all of those changes began operating at the same time? For more than a decade, Mississippi has transformed its criminal justice architecture. Some changes
accountability
The New York Post just published a clear-eyed takedown of the “evidence-based” diversion model that helped shape bail reform and soft-on-crime policies across blue cities. The numbers never matched the marketing. Ari Hoffman’s recent New York Post opinion piece lays out what many of us
accountability
The continued circulation of pieces like The Marshall Project’s 2022 article “Prison Money Diaries: What People Really Make (and Spend) Behind Bars” reveals a deeper problem in contemporary public-policy debate: the point at which advocacy journalism crosses from investigation into narrative management. When a publication presents itself as