By Kevin L. Collins | Published January 1, 2021 | Posted in Criminal Law | Tagged Tags: bail reform, felony bail system, judicial immunity, motion to dismiss | Comments Off on Lawsuit Challenging Harris County Felony Bail System Can Proceed to Trial
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Lawsuit Challenging Harris County Felony Bail System Can Proceed to Trial
A federal judge has decided that a lawsuit challenging the Harris County felony bail system should continue to trial. The federal class action was brought by the same legal team that successfully challenged the county’s misdemeanor bail practices last year, resulting in a settlement that allows most defendants facing misdemeanor charges to be released without Read More
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Bail Reforms in Harris County Did Not Lead to Increase in Reoffenders
A year after a federal judge approved a plan to reform the Harris County bail system, allowing most misdemeanor defendants to be released on their own recognizance, an independent report concludes there has been no corresponding increase in repeat offenses. The former system required defendants, even those charged with low-level, non-violent offenses, to secure their Read More
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Online Tool Tracks Texas Jail Population That Can’t Make Bail
While defendants who can pay bail can await trial outside of jail, thousands of Texans without the means to afford bail remain behind bars. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, those incarcerated face a higher risk of becoming infected. Texas taxpayers are also penalized, as incarcerating defendants who have not been convicted costs the state approximately $905 Read More
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Court “Resets” Unduly Prolong Incarceration Before Trial
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic spike in Texas court resets —rescheduling of trials or hearings to later dates. Many criminal courts have been closed since March 24 due to health concerns, and court proceedings previously scheduled in the spring and summer have been pushed off for several months. Court resets Read More
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Cash Bail Is Often Unjust to the Poor, But What Are the Alternatives?
On any given day, more than 450,000 people across the U.S. are sitting in jail awaiting trial because they cannot afford to pay their bail. Many of them, perhaps a great majority, are poor people who find themselves incarcerated while people with financial means – who are accused of the same or even more serious Read More
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How Bail Decisions Are Being Affected By COVID-19
U.S. prisons are the world’s most crowded, housing people in close contact with each other 24 hours a day. Combine that closeness with the already limited availability of health care in correctional facilities and it’s no surprise that jails and prisons have become hotbeds for coronavirus. The federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and prison administrators Read More
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Pressure Grows to Shrink Jail Populations Due to COVID-19 Infections
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is facing renewed calls to shrink jail populations to help people avoid possibly contracting COVID-19 as the state has become the nation’s biggest virus hotbed. By the end of June, more than 8,200 inmates in the Texas prison system had tested positive for COVID-19 and 79 prisoners had died of the Read More
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Texas Bail Reform Spreading to Travis and Bexar Counties
The U.S. Constitution prohibits the setting of excessive bail in criminal cases. However, countless defendants in Texas are kept in custody awaiting trial solely because of a lack of financial resources. Requiring cash bail creates a significant disparity on the basis of income, regardless of the defendant’s potential danger to the community or risk of Read More
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What Happens if You Host a Gathering While in Quarantine?
Along with the serious health risks associated with coronavirus, Americans are burdened by quarantine orders and similar directives that forbid them from seeing their loved ones, even for major events such as holidays and birthdays. It can be tempting to try to break the rules, especially for people who believe that they don’t fall into Read More
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Texas Bail Reform Seeks to Balance Public Safety and Defendants’ Rights
In Texas as elsewhere, bail allows criminal defendants to be released pending trial, under penalty of forfeiting their bail bonds if they fail to appear. Bail decisions are based upon the seriousness of the criminal charges and on the defendant’s criminal record, risk of flight and danger to the community. But in actual practice, bail Read More
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