Meet the woman that wants to be your next Delegate
Meet the woman that wants to be your next Delegate
Anne Arundel County Meet the woman of strength that wants to be your next Maryland State Delegate!
My Success Depends On Your Trust
Vote for Marguerite Morris for the House of Delegates District 33A
In 2021 Morris successfully garnered sponsorship of a bill that became law successfully closing a 25 year old loophole in a Maryland law.
In 2021 Morris successfully garnered sponsorship of a bill that became law successfully closing a 25 year old loophole in a Maryland law.
Successfully converting deteriorating resources to substantive resources in response to the needs of families in crisis
Successfully converting deteriorating resources to substantive resources in response to the needs of families in crisis
Morris - Determined to turn her tragedy into triumph on behalf of others in Maryland.
Morris - Determined to turn her tragedy into triumph on behalf of others in Maryland.
Health and Human Services Inequities
Health and Human Services Inequities
New Law Will Close 'Loophole' in Appeals of Autopsy Findings
Morris requested Delegate Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel) sponsor a bill to close that twenty five year old inconsistency in the law. As a result "Beginning Oct. 1, families can file an appeal to the secretary of the Department of Health if the chief medical examiner denies their request to change the manner of death on their loved one’s autopsy report....
Prior to its passage, Maryland law allowed only the cause of death to be appealed if requests were denied."
The cause of death is not the manner. The cause is scientific, and the manner is evidentiary.
"After the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner files its conclusions on the cause and manner of death, families have a 60-day window to request that they be corrected if they feel there are inconsistencies.''
"...According to Maryland Department of Health spokesman Charles Gischlar, 22 appeals to have the cause or manner of death on an autopsy report changed were filed from 2001 to 2019. Only one appeal was successful." Therefore Morris was the first in 18 years to win on appeal!
"..Government agencies have been aware of the inconsistency in appeals since the law was enacted in 1992... It was about a word that was missing that the state was using as a loophole” to deny me an administrative hearing, .."
However in March of 2021, following the hearing that was granted after 5 years an administrative law judge issued a 58 page opinion that Katherine’s manner of death be changed from suicide to undetermined.
Next Steps for your Candidate- Change that 60-day time restriction on certain classifications of cases.
"..Morris .. said. “That law that is now being enacted … will help other families.” But her fight isn’t over. Morris said that she hopes to work with legislators during the 2022 session to have the 60-day time limit on requests to change autopsy reports repealed. “It’s just so unfair because you just don’t have answers that quickly,” she said. Kumar agrees.
“There’s this way in which, to me, it feels unreasonable to put the burden on the family — particularly in such a short time period,” she said. “They may be disturbed by the [Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s] conclusion but may not be aware how far-reaching the consequences are of those … conclusions.”
Quotes from the article "New Law Will Close 'Loophole' in Appeals of Autopsy Findings" written by hgaskill@marylandmatters.org
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Families in Crisis
Families in Crisis
An article appearing in the Washington Post’s Southern Maryland Living talked about how a once condemned local hotspot known as the Happyland Club, which in its last days had become not only a dump, but a haven for drug trafficking and prostitution, but under Morris’ leadership was transformed back into a positive community resource which for several years, served, housed, and sustained families in need.
Under Morris' Leadership from this
Under Morris' Leadership from this
Then This
Then This
To This
To This
Providing Care For
Providing Care For
and serving victims of domestic violence from as far away as Ukraine
and serving victims of domestic violence from as far away as Ukraine
Leading to success' like these
Leading to success' like these
As a self represented mom, took on the Attorney General's Office of Maryland and won
As a self represented mom, took on the Attorney General's Office of Maryland and won
She was the first in eighteen years to successfully win on appeal!
In the midst of all of this she suffered in the loss of her only child. Morris began a nine year odyssey for justice on her daughters behalf. At the end of the nine years she can claim success in the first leg of that race.
H. Gaskill of Maryland Matters wrote "..Marguerite Morris submitted a request to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner asking that her daughter’s manner of death be changed to undetermined to allow for an investigation. But her request — and subsequent appeal — was denied.
She took the state to court three times and was finally granted an administrative hearing in 2020. But even then, she said, the state tried to put a halt to the proceedings, citing a decades-old inconsistency in the law."
Morris argued the case against the Attorney General's Office for the state of Maryland. They lost and then lost again on appeal. The The hearing spanned five days, with over 100 exhibits and fourteen witnesses. The judge that issued a fifty-eight page opinion. The Secretary of Health was then required to make the ordered corrections to Kathy's death certificate.
Youth Empowerment and Development
Youth Empowerment and Development
I have been a mentor to young people and earned my Masters in Formational Children and Family's. I have served as the lead advisor to the AAC NAACP Youth and College Division. Under my leadership and by partnering with awesome parents and other dynamic leaders, successfully relaunched that Division.
I recall a parent thanking me for being the voice of motivation to her drug dealing son, who put down the drugs and earned multiple degrees including in African Studies and English. I firmly believe that if we don't invest and make room for our youth than our future will be bleak.