Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton on Tuesday requested a federal court docket to vacate the ODonnell Consent Decree, a first-of-its-kind bail reform follow in Harris County that enables most misdemeanor defendants to be launched from jail earlier than trial with out having to pay cash.
The consent decree, which has been in place since 2019, settled a category motion lawsuit filed towards the county in 2016. Attorneys for the lead plaintiff, Maranda Lynn ODonnell, argued that Houston defendants charged with low-level crimes had been being penalized for being poor in violation of their constitutional rights.
Paxton filed motions Tuesday to intervene within the case and vacate the order, arguing the follow goes towards a Texas regulation handed in 2021 and one other state bail regulation set to take impact Sept. 1. His motions had been filed someday after President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, issued a federal government order in search of to finish cashless bail for people who find themselves accused of violent offenses or pose threats to public security.
“The State Lawyer Basic is attempting to invalidate a federal order and pressure Harris County again into an oppressive system wherein individuals are jailed or launched primarily based on how a lot cash they’ve, tearing aside households and communities within the course of,” stated Travis Fife, an legal professional for the nonprofit Texas Civil Rights Venture, which is a part of ODonnell’s authorized group within the case. “We’re all safer when presumptively harmless folks stay with their households as an alternative of being confined to the lethal Harris County Jail.”
Appearing Harris County Lawyer Christian Menefee, a Democrat who’s working for the vacant seat within the 18th Congressional District, stated in a press release that he’ll oppose Paxton’s motions. He additionally stated it is “no coincidence” the motions had been filed shortly after Trump’s government order.
“As with redistricting, this state is as soon as once more bending to the need of Donald Trump,” Menefee stated. “Ken Paxton is clearly attempting to attain political factors on bail, however the information and the lived expertise in Harris County show that this reform works.”
In arguing that the consent decree ought to be nullified, Paxton in court docket filings cited the opinions of 4 judges in Harris County together with two state legal guidelines handed because the follow took impact. Senate Invoice 6 was a 2021 regulation that requires folks charged with violent crimes in Texas to put up money bail with a purpose to be launched from jail.
Senate Invoice 9, which was handed by state lawmakers this 12 months and can take impact Sept. 1, provides to the record of offenses for which defendants are required to put up a money bond. These offenses embrace terroristic threats, illegal possession of a firearm and stalking. The forthcoming regulation additionally permits prosecutors to enchantment bail quantities for defendants charged with felonies whereas they’re out of jail on bond for one more felony.
“State regulation has modified because the Consent Decree was entered; accordingly, it ought to be vacated,” Paxton wrote in one in all his motions.
The follow in Harris County applies solely to misdemeanors and to not felonies or violent offenses. And the court-appointed screens for the consent decree have persistently reported that it has been profitable by way of lowering the inhabitants of misdemeanor defendants on the Harris County Jail, which has been affected by overcrowding and inmate deaths, together with saving the county cash and resulting in a lower within the variety of misdemeanor arrests.
The variety of folks arrested for misdemeanors, who had new legal prices filed towards them inside one 12 months, additionally has declined, in accordance with the newest report issued in March.
“The O’Donnell Consent Decree has been in place for years, and the outcomes converse for themselves: it has saved Harris County taxpayers tens of millions of {dollars}, decreased recidivism, eased overcrowding in our jail, and improved the lives of tens of 1000’s of individuals by guaranteeing they are not jailed merely for being poor,” Menefee wrote in a press release. “Undoing it might trigger the court docket backlog to skyrocket and the jail inhabitants to rise to unmanageable ranges.”
