Karen Morrison: Shining a Light on Injustice

My name is Joshua Bevill. I’m currently serving a 30-year federal prison sentence for a low-level, nonviolent offense. I spend my days making the absolute best of my situation. Through time in God’s Word, I’ve learned never to waste a day that I’ve been given. And I’ve learned to be my absolute best in the situation I’m in, even if it’s cleaning toilets. So while I’m fighting for my freedom, I also devote my days to helping fellow prisoners identify and articulate legal arguments. In addition, I help fellow prisoners craft comprehensive Clemency petitions, as there is no right to an attorney during the crucial post-conviction litigation stage or concerning a Clemency petition.

I also immerse myself in research about who’s doing what in the legal world. I write about the rare and remarkable outliers: people who are in the business of law but who also care about justice.

I recently stumbled upon a hidden gem, Karen Dickerson-Morrison. Ernest Howard and I bonded over our mutual adoration for criminal justice superhero Brittany K. Barnett. Ernest is serving a 35-year federal prison sentence. Earnest has the kind of case that is shockingly unfair, the type of case that, as one begins to unravel it, multiple layers of injustice are revealed. His case is a model of how the federal system can engineer ridiculously long prison sentences through corner-cutting, exploiting legal loopholes, and manipulating the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, producing a heavily watered-down brand of “justice” by way of a process that artfully strips the defendant of the vitally important constitutional safeguards designed to protect the criminally accused. Despite spending two decades doing hard time in the nation’s most violent maximum-security U.S. penitentiaries, Ernest is still filled with a kind spirit and the hope of a better tomorrow. Ernest, like me, believes in things that he cannot see, touch, or feel, a viewpoint rooted in God's Word.

After I gave Ernest a copy of Brittany K. Barnett’s book, A Knock at Midnight, it lit a fire inside him and renewed his hope for relief from his unjust sentence.

In our talks about Brittany K. Barnett, Ernest told me about Karen, a legal advocate who has devoted her life to helping well-deserving prisoners win their freedom. As I learned more, I knew I had to add Karen to my dream team. And it’s an honor to write about her.

For years, advocates in this country have been beating the drum of justice reform. While some progress has been made, for example, The First Step Act, we have only begun to scratch the surface of righting the many injustices committed under the banner of being “tough on crime.”

How can we, as a nation, come together and demand more from our leaders and politicians? How can we begin to heal and see one another as human beings instead of pointing accusatory fingers?

Through compassion.

Compassion has been missing from our law books for far too long. A lack of compassion has been the catalyst for countless men and women to be considered less than human and given harsh sentences that do not fit their crimes, leaving in the wake incalculable pain and despair. To be clear, compassion is not being soft on crime. Compassion is not giving dangerous criminals a pass to run amok. Compassion is giving people a second chance—well-deserving people who have been crushed by a punitive system of justice that senselessly cages men and women for absurdly long periods.

It seems that everyone supports the “lock’ em-up-and-throw-away-the-keys” brand of justice—until it’s them or their loved one in the crosshairs. Then it’s different. Then, they plead for mercy.

The idea of cultivating more compassion in our society may feel insurmountable. Still, we need only turn to those whose lives have been touched by our broken legal system for inspiration and the determination to make a difference.

One leader and advocate making a profound difference is Karen Dickson-Morrison. Although she works with Brittany K. Barnett and other well-known legal advocates, she flies under the radar.

In Karen I’ve found a remarkable soul who has devoted her life to helping the weak and powerless. She’s part of my dream team: MiAgngel Cody, Brittany K. Barnett, Jessica Jackson, Amber Baylor, Mark Osler, Rachel Barkow, Bryan Stevenson, Alice Marie Johnson, Amy Povah, Nancy Gertner, Jason Hernandez, and now, Karen Morrison.

A Friend in Need

Karen was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to the Bronx when she was a little girl. She knew she wanted to serve others at an early age and decided to become a teacher. She graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Middle School Education, then earned her master’s in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of Phoenix.

Karen had no idea that in 2014, her world would dramatically change when she learned that Corey Jacobs, a dear friend from high school, was serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. With no knowledge of law or how clemency works, she worked night and day, advocating for his release.

The teacher would soon become the student and learn how our legal system really works. Though Corey had no prior convictions, and while the police found no weapons, drugs, or large amounts of money at the scene, he was sent away for life based on the self-serving testimony of co-defendants, who testified against Corey in exchange for reduced sentences.

Karen also witnessed profound growth on Corey’s part in the 16 years he had been in prison. The once wannabe gangbanger had matured into a man who took full responsibility for his actions. Corey was a positive and charismatic young man who had worked hard to better himself while on the inside. He had received over 100 certificates after completing courses.

Karen wondered how someone like Corey, a good man who hung out with the wrong people as a kid, could be thrown away like a piece of trash. Short of execution, life without the possibility of parole is the harshest punishment available. This sentence shouts to the entire world that the person is beyond hope and beyond redemption. And in Corey’s case, the punishment is grossly out of proportion to the crime.

Finally, after two long years of advocacy and hard work, President Obama granted Karen’s dear friend clemency, and he was released back into the world and back into life. But Karen’s work wasn’t over; in fact, it was just getting started.

A Nonprofit is Born

One thing that set Karen apart from the very beginning of her advocacy journey was that she would take on the complex cases most other people wouldn’t touch. After Corey’s release, Karen began advocating for the release of other men and women, working alongside other passionate advocates such as attorneys Brittany K. Barnett and Kimberly Kendall Corral and celebrities Kim Kardashian and Alan Iverson.

During the Covid pandemic, Karen knew she had the best chance of getting as many of her clients out, thanks to what is called “Compassionate Release.” Outside of prison walls, people could socially distance themselves and stop the spread of the deadly virus. But those measures were next to impossible to do inside prison walls, which left many older prisoners and those with comorbidities vulnerable.

During this time, Karen had the idea of starting a nonprofit organization to advocate for those whose humanity had been ignored and were locked up for life. The schoolteacher, who up until this point was doing pro-bono work while cutting coupons and often struggling to make ends meet, formed Fighting 4 Freedom and began taking donations.

Over the years, Karen’s hard work and determination have been spurred on by the many heartbreaking cases that come across her path. In a recent interview, she shared one such case.

Her client, Anthony Viola, is a 78-year-old man who has been in prison for 30 years for a first-time, nonviolent offense. His family has spent years filing motion after motion, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, to no avail.

Not only does Anthony have mounting medical conditions, like most people his age do, but his wife is also struggling with health issues. And he sits inside prison walls all for a nonviolent marijuana case.

Meanwhile, Karen often sees judges letting guys out who are on top of organizations with numerous violent charges in their background. A growing body of empirical data demonstrates that, in many cases, the worst criminals get the lightest sentences while the little guys receive the brunt of the punishment. As counterintuitive as it sounds, the most culpable have the best information to trade in exchange for a lighter sentence; they leverage and cash in their spot at the top of a criminal organization.

Karen has learned that the justice system is not only corrupt but also painfully slow. A clemency petition can sit for months or even years before being considered. That’s why these days, Karen and her team focus on bringing her clients’ stories to life and having them go viral through the press and social media. This ignites the public, building political pressure that speeds up the entire clemency process. Karen herself has said, “When you have people calling governors and parole boards every day, people start to listen.”

The advocacy work both Karen and Fighting 4 Freedom do brings the broken judicial system into the public’s awareness and shines a spotlight on the injustices happening across our nation. Karen has always shied away from the spotlight, preferring to work her miracles behind the scenes.

“This has never been about getting credit for myself. The work I do is about reuniting families.”

Karen is a model of compassion, a selfless woman who gives the voiceless a voice. I’d like to showcase her and her good works. She deserves it.