My name is China Morris, and I am the proud wife of Johnny Morris, an incarcerated man who has served over 14 years of a 24-year sentence for a manslaughter charge he took accountability for at age 24. He is not the same man who entered prison. He is now a Muslim, a mentor, a husband, and a father figure—and I’m writing this with faith and fire in my heart to ask you to support HB 1274, which would give him and others like him a second chance at life and liberty.

Johnny is living proof that rehabilitation is real. He hasn’t had a single infraction in over 12 years. He earned his peer mentoring certification and has been actively helping younger inmates find tools for emotional healing, spiritual development, and responsibility. He teaches others how to draw closer to God, and walks with purpose every single day behind those walls.

He even obtained his business license from prison, preparing for a life of purpose and self-sufficiency when he returns home. He is the spiritual backbone of our home and the hero to my children, who love him deeply and see him as their father. This is a man who has been restored from the inside out.

HB 1274 would allow the courts to look at who he is now, not just who he was when he entered the system. This law was written for men like Johnny—those who have matured, transformed, and are no longer a threat, but an asset to our community.

The system always says it wants people to rehabilitate—well, here he is. He did the work. He changed. But now the system tells him it’s “too late” because of a deadline. How can a deadline be more powerful than a changed heart and a changed life?

We are a Muslim family, and our faith teaches us that redemption is always possible. That Allah is the Turner of hearts, the Forgiver of sins, and the Writer of new beginnings. I ask you to stand with us—not just for Johnny, but for all the families like mine, waiting for mercy from a system that’s been too silent for too long.

Please sign this petition to show your support for HB 1274 and for giving Johnny the second chance he has already earned. Let him come home. Let him continue his work in freedom. Let our children grow up with the man who never stopped guiding them, even from behind bars.