25 days post-arrest
The very basics of why WE have a problem
Our country was founded so that we the people could be free. Free to speak. Free to assemble in public with whomever we please. Free to exercise any religion we choose. Free from government oppression. The government (aka law enforcement) cannot search or take our homes, our things, or our bodies. The government (aka law enforcement) cannot deny us certain protections—from them—when they believe we have violated a law, such as access to an attorney, to remain silent, and to have a trial to challenge what they claim is the evidence against us. Our right to bear arms is our right to prevent government oppression.
For anyone (looking at you, laurens county sheriff’s department) concerned about my blog and consistently unfamiliar with the law, this is protected free speech and free press under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Reporting this on social media as "spam" is oppressing Constitutional rights and freedom.
Another fundamental principle created to protect our country’s freedom is checks and balances within our three—supposed to be separate—branches of government. The executive branch is law enforcement; the judicial branch is our courts; and the legislative branch is our law makers (house and senate). The actions of law enforcement are supposed to be checked by the courts. The role of defense attorneys is to review the actions of the government and ensure each person’s rights were protected at every stage of the person’s encounter with government actors. When there is a concern, an attorney raises the issue to a court. What is terrifyingly happening is the court is blindly backing government actions, seemingly forgetting their very important role of checking law enforcement practices. Without impartial review, our system is left out-of-balance and the foundations that uphold our freedom are unsupported and at risk of crumbling.
We do not live FREE where the court fails to be neutral and robotically gives unwavering support for the government. When charges are brought against someone, it is because law enforcement believes they have committed a crime—it does not mean they have committed a crime. Law enforcement need not be faulted for this belief (this is their job). The court, however, certainly needs to be faulted when it automatically holds this view, because it is the court’s job to recognize the law: we are all innocent until proven guilty and all deserve to be treated as such. The court must act as the check on law enforcement to ensure our freedom is protected.
We do not live FREE where the government (aka law enforcement) does not limit their actions or respect OUR rights. Routinely, our local law enforcement is not limiting their actions, not respecting our inalienable rights, and there is no check, no questions, no consequences, no deterrent for this unlawful behavior by the court. THIS IS A HUGE ISSUE.
As my job, I challenge the actions and choices made by law enforcement. When the court is unable to be fair and just, my clients take their case to trial. Impartial jurors are currently the only effective check in our broken system. Here is an example (the story behind the Not Guilty verdict shared on The Morgan Law Firm’s Facebook page):
JOHN BANKHEAD was in jail for unknown reasons, being held in an isolated cell for unknown reasons, and had been in jail and in isolation for an unknown duration of time.
Confused and desperate, he began beating on the cell door. The officer in the control room told him to stop. He continued banging and screaming and begging for a phone call. Begging to speak with his sister. As he continued to be “belligerent,” jailers were loudly ordered to place him in “the wrap”—a full body suit that wraps an inmate’s arms around his body, completely restricting him. It requires 3 officers and a physical maneuver that forces the inmate onto the ground. Hearing that officers are coming, not to his rescue but to his detriment, Mr. Bankhead grabs onto the cell door and, with all his might, pulls to hold it shut. Multiple officers attempt to pry it open, and in the mix, one of them gets his fingers slammed in the door. Mr. Bankhead is charged with Aggravated Battery for “maliciously” causing the officer’s broken fingers.
The doctor who treated the broken fingers testified that it was a common injury, mostly seen when fingers were shut in car doors, and can easily happen by accident (not with malice). The day the officer’s fingers were broken ends with the bolts being removed from the door and Mr. Bankhead ultimately being put into “the wrap” for an undefined amount of time.
Prior to trial, Mr. Bankhead’s lowest plea offer was 7 years in prison followed by 13 more years on probation. To the government, there is no greater offense than injuring an officer (and that is their prerogative). Unfortunately, this view, notwithstanding the mitigation, was adopted by the court prior to trial and left Mr. Bankhead in custody without bond for over a year. Thankfully, a jury understood that this was a desperate plea for help followed by an accidental injury. No actions by Mr. Bankhead were for the purpose of injuring anyone. He was found Not Guilty of all charges.
It was an honor to represent Mr. Bankhead. I believed in him, in his story, and in his defense. I love my job; I love giving a voice to people often overlooked and easily taken advantage of, but at the end of the day, it is not who I am. It is not the biggest part of me. It is just my job. Because of that, I believe the police make mistakes, as we all do, in their job. I believe in accountability, even for my clients, that is fair and reasonable. I did not believe law enforcement officers were innately bad humans, despite seeing so many atrocities committed by so many of them. But then, they arrest me for doing my job. My job that is diligently CHECKING and CHALLENGING their actions.
It is relevant to note that the injured officer in Mr. Bankhead's case was one of my arresting officers.
Note, too, that I was arrested for meeting with a young woman who called my office needing immediate help (hence, my visit to the jail on a holiday) due to her being harassed at the jail by this same officer.
My previous efforts—efforts that remained in the courtroom and talked about only if asked about—were clearly not enough: Law enforcement officers are acting without limits. These actions are not being impartially checked by the court. Our system is out of balance. This is not a ME problem; this is a WE THE PEOPLE problem.
That is why I will now share this blog on the law and weekly updates of successes and disappointments on The Morgan Law Firm Facebook. We must be aware that we have a problem, and we must take steps to ensure it gets adequately fixed.
Important step: VOTE TYLER JACKSON for Laurens County Sheriff
In the meantime, I will not be silenced. I will not be discouraged. I will not be defeated. Because I am Holly's mother:
Instead of “Mom”, she’s gonna call me “Point B.” Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”
She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.
And “Baby,” I’ll tell her “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that, I know that trick, you’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.” But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.
I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say “thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.
You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.
And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.
“Baby,” I’ll tell her “remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.” Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.
Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.
