April 18–21, 2027 · Kalahari Resort, Spotsylvania, VA
FACTS Regional Legislative Symposium
For Kathy's Sake — and Every Family Still Waiting for the Truth
Families. Accountability. Collaboration. Transparency. Solutions. A multi-state convening to strenghten laws to correct manner of death misclassifications, and other public safety failures. A call to help build the legislative infrastructure for lasting reform.
Families are waiting. Legislators are ready. The window is now.
The Scale of the Crisis
Death misclassification is not a rare anomaly. It is a systemic failure — one that falls hardest on families who already have the least power to challenge it.
Wrongful death misclassifications documented in a single Maryland county over 10 years
2010–2020
Source: Maryland OCME audit, 2022
Of medical examiner offices nationwide lack accreditation
Source: NAME, 2021
States with no formal process for families to challenge a manner-of-death ruling
Source: FACTS Coalition research, 2024
A Few of the Cases That Demand National Attention
Katherine Morris
Her death was ruled a suicide. Her mother spent a decade fighting that ruling — and produced three new Maryland laws, including the first death reclassification statute in the nation.
Read More →Keith Warren
Found hanging from a tree in Montgomery County. Ruled a suicide. For nearly 40 years, his family fought that ruling. In 2025, his manner of death was reclassified as undetermined.
Read More →Nolan Wells
His case was highlighted at the 2026 NAACP National Convention, drawing national attention to the fragmented death investigation system and its inconsistent, sometimes biased outcomes.
Read More →Tasia Sidea Fortune
Her case draws urgent attention to how initial rulings can foreclose investigations before they truly begin — especially when the finder of the body has a personal connection to the deceased.
Read More →Joanne Hunter
Her family's advocacy overturned the ruling in her case and produced California SB 989 — Joanna's Law — effective January 2025, requiring specific training for officers at unattended death scenes.
Read More →These cases span four states and four decades. Each one exposed a different failure in the same broken system — inadequate training, no accountability, no pathway to correction. The FACTS Symposium exists to build the legislative infrastructure that addresses all of them.
What We Will Build in Two and a Half Days
Legislative Strategy
- State-by-state analysis of the legislative landscape in all eight target states
- Identifying legislative champions and mapping committee assignments
- Drafting bill language for reclassification rights and investigative training standards
- Coordinating the 2027 and 2028 session calendars across nine jurisdictions
Coalition Building
- Connecting families, advocates, attorneys, and organizations already doing this work
- Building the relationships that will sustain a multi-year, multi-state campaign
- Establishing communication channels and shared resources across state lines
- Identifying gaps in the coalition and strategies to fill them
Training & Reform
- Developing training standards for law enforcement at unattended death scenes
- Building accountability frameworks to accompany the legislation
- Reviewing the Joanna's Law model for replication in eight additional states
- Establishing metrics for measuring reform outcomes after passage
Sustainability
- Building the organizational infrastructure to carry this campaign forward
- Developing a funding strategy for the 2027–2028 legislative campaign
- Establishing communications infrastructure for ongoing coalition coordination
- Planning the 2028 follow-up convening to assess progress and adjust strategy
We Need You
"My issue is not your issue today, but continue to ignore my issue, and one day my issue will become your issue."
Coalition Partners & Organizing Organizations
Register for the Symposium
Join families, advocates, attorneys, and legislators from across the region at the Kalahari Resort, Spotsylvania, Virginia.