More Than 300 Helped by Bail Fund Backed by Orlando’s Morgan & Morgan Firm

By Monivette Cordeiro l ORLANDO SENTINEL | April 2, 2021

More than 300 people who couldn’t afford to bail out of Central Florida jails were released this past year after getting financial help from the Community Bail Fund, Orlando attorney Matt Morgan announced this week.

The nonprofit fund, which was launched by the Morgan & Morgan law firm in February 2020, has assisted defendants charged with non-violent crimes post bonds totaling more than $484,000 in Orange, Osceola and Hillsborough counties, he said.

Morgan’s family pledged to match up to $250,000 to the fund, and have so far given about $125,000, the attorney said. He noted the fund launched weeks before the coronavirus pandemic hit Florida, causing outbreaks among those incarcerated in close quarters at jails and prisons statewide.

“We really saw our work as kind of a mission during the pandemic,” he said. “... [People] were sitting in a pandemic cesspool pretty much waiting to get infected. It wasn’t a matter of if they were going to get infected — it was a matter of when they were going to get infected. That really heightened the need for the bail fund to step up and do this work in as efficient of a way as we possibly could.”

The top three charges associated with cases that the fund posted bail on were petty theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and trespassing, according to the firm. Morgan argued ending mass incarceration is in the best interest of taxpayers because “a significant portion of their tax dollars go to incarcerating people who truly should not be incarcerated.”

“If you’re a mother of four that was taking a Slim Jim from 7-Eleven for your child because they don’t have any food and they’re starving, you’re going to be taken to jail,” he said. “You’re not going to have any money to pay that bail. Your children are going to be taken from you ... and the cascading impact goes on.”

“It’s baffling that this still exists in America,” he added.

Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said the criminal justice system discriminates against defendants who’ve qualified for pre-trial release and are “entitled to be free” but can’t afford bail.

“We can’t have two systems of justice — one for those who can afford it and one for those who can’t,” he said. “The Community Bail Fund helps eliminate that disparity and create one justice system for everyone, which is the way it’s supposed to be in our democracy.”

Community Resource Network Chairman Joel Hunter, who helped the Morgan family organize the fund, said he is “thrilled” with the number of people helped and hopes the fund will spread to other counties in Central Florida.

“This is a way that we can provide some equity when it comes to financial fairness and treat everyone the same no matter what level of income,” said Hunter, a former Longwood megachurch leader. “I think it’s an idea worthy for every community.”

Morgan said his family’s firm is looking to expand the fund to Miami-Dade County, and in the future, Georgia.

“We really want the fund to be focused on individuals [who] made a mistake that posed no threat to the community whatsoever and are just being held because our system is broken,” he said. “Our system of justice is stacked against people of color and people of lower income, and it’s disproportionate if you look at the numbers. There’s an inherent unfairness that a lot of people aren’t looking at it because it does not impact them. But when you start peeling back the layers of the onion ... it jumps off the page.”