Tag Archives: bail

Whitmire files complaint against bail-denying magistrates

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. An influential Texas lawmaker on Thursday filed formal complaints against three Harris County magistrate judges after they were captured on videotape rushing misdemeanor defendants to jail without considering no-cost bonds. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, filed the complaints with … Continue reading →

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New Sheriff not interested in defending current bail policies

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. After defeating Sheriff Ron Hickman in the election this month, Sheriff-elect Ed Gonzalez is already sticking his nose in Hickman’s official business — mainly, the lawsuit filed against him. Hickman, along with the county, all the county judges and … Continue reading →

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Checking in with Ed Gonzalez

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Also known as Harris County Sheriff-elect Ed Gonzalez. Ed Gonzalez will have a lot to do when he assumes the position of the county’s top cop in January. He’ll have to rein in overtime pay, manage the Harris County jail … Continue reading →

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Checking in with Kim Ogg

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That’s District Attorney-elect Kim Ogg now. Kim Ogg, still hoarse from shouting over the jubilant victory party crowd after winning her race for Harris County District Attorney, said Wednesday that her first order of business would be to evaluate and … Continue reading →

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The answer is to always cram more people in the jails

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman is asking the state jail commission to let nearly 200 inmates sleep on plastic cots on the floor of the already overcrowded county jail system, a request challenged by more than a dozen Houston-area … Continue reading →

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More lawyers for the bail practices lawsuit

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I’m still not thrilled about this. Harris County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to add another law firm to the county’s court fight against bail reform, a group whose job will be representing 16 county criminal judges who were recently added … Continue reading →

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More on the Sandra Bland settlement

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Garnet Coleman is working to implement the reforms mandated by the Sandra Bland lawsuit settlement. House Democrats sparred with state law enforcement officials over questions of racial profiling Tuesday at a sometimes contentious hearing. It was the latest … Continue reading →

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Spending money to defend our terrible bail practices

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. About $170,000 in tax money has been paid to outside attorneys to defend Harris Country officials from a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that the bail bond system discriminates against poor people, records show. That’s more than the cost … Continue reading →

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The bigger debtors’ prison problem

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not just Harris County. Last week, an Amarillo attorney released documents that he said showed the city jailed disabled people simply because they were unable to pay municipal fines. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, the victims of this apparent debtors’ prison system … Continue reading →

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Three updates on county-related lawsuits

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Update #1: Judges sued as part of Harris County federal court bail challenge. Attorneys challenging the constitutionality of Harris County’s pretrial bail policies have added all 16 of Harris County’s misdemeanor court judges as defendants in a federal civil rights … Continue reading →

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What’s that definition of insanity again?

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

How many times are we going to find ourselves in this same situation before we finally accept that we need to do something different? The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has cut funding for law enforcement operations to cover exploding overtime … Continue reading →

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More focus on bail practices

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Something needs to be done, whether via the ongoing lawsuit or other means. Sandra Thompson, a University of Houston law professor, has spent hundreds of dollars bailing her cousin out of jail for minor offenses. “I get steamed under the … Continue reading →

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Bail practices lawsuit update

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There was a hearing in court this week, and the judge was skeptical. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal declined Thursday to rule on whether Harris County should be dismissed from a lawsuit intended to force officials to reform a tough … Continue reading →

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Roadside drug tests

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. A Houston police officer pulled Barry Demings over as he headed to work in Beaumont and plucked a spot of white powder off the floorboard of Demings’ year-old Ford Explorer. Demings had just … Continue reading →

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We’re outsourcing inmates again

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We never learn. Harris County, in the latest move to keep its swelling jail population in check, is pursuing an agreement with neighboring Fort Bend County to send inmates to the suburb’s jail. A Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman called … Continue reading →

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Sandra Bland, one year later

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The timing of this is tragically appropriate. With confident, and sometimes vulnerable, lyrics, a group of poets and singers Sunday afternoon commemorated the life of [Sandra] Bland, who had been found dead in her Waller County Jail cell three days … Continue reading →

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Ellis v. Radack

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: On Tuesday, Commissioner Steve Radack said during a public session of the Harris County Commissioner’s Court that Senator Rodney Ellis should “shut up” about criminal justice reform. Click here and scroll to the 30 second mark of … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Harris County bail practices

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This could be a big deal. An advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., challenged Harris County’s bail system on Thursday, arguing in a federal civil rights lawsuit that hundreds of offenders are unlawfully jailed for minor offenses like trespassing and … Continue reading →

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Harris County takes a step towards jail reform

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Harris County commissioners voted Tuesday to back a sweeping plan to reform the criminal justice system, a week after the Harris County Jail began shipping inmates to other counties to avoid reaching capacity. Commissioners voted to accept a $2 … Continue reading →

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Bland committee makes its recommendations for Waller County jail

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good to see. Waller County needs a new jail, local officers need body cameras to record their activities and the sheriff’s office needs to promote civility, a study committee formed after the death of Sandra Bland said Tuesday. The county … Continue reading →

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Another way to achieve bail reform

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the Quorum Report: The unnecessary death of Sandra Bland in the Waller County Jail last summer has now put the reform of bail bonds in focus as a key criminal justice issue ahead of the next legislative session. Last … Continue reading →

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County finally takes jail overcrowding seriously

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this actually becomes. Chasing $4 million in grant money, Harris County officials on Thursday announced reforms in the criminal justice system to unclog dockets, lower jail population and address racial and ethnic disparities. And because the changes … Continue reading →

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Our bail policies are unjust, costly, and stupid

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Any questions about how I really feel? “The numbers clearly tell the story: More than three-fourths of the people in Harris County Jail haven’t been convicted of crime, and the majority of them are sitting in jail simply because they … Continue reading →

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Will Sandra Bland’s death help lead to bail reform?

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That would be a fitting and just outcome if it does. Harris County and the state should reform an unfair bond system that punishes the poor more harshly, according to civil rights leaders, legislative officials and criminal experts who gathered … Continue reading →

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Sandra Bland’s death ruled a suicide

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That’s only part of this tragic story. Waller County prosecutors said Thursday that a preliminary autopsy found that Sandra Bland committed suicide, but they pledged to continue investigating the circumstances surrounding her controversial arrest by a state trooper as well … Continue reading →

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What Dallas County can teach us about jail overcrowding

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Why can’t Harris County be more like Dallas County, at least in this regard? Dallas County’s jail population has hit an all-time low. That means more spacious jail tanks and fewer bologna sandwiches. If the trend continues, it could add … Continue reading →

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Outsourcing inmates again

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve been down this road before. For the first time in three years, the Harris County sheriff began transferring busloads of inmates this week to other correctional facilities to avoid overcrowding at the state’s largest jail. The jail population is … Continue reading →

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Bail reform for Harris County?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This would be a big deal. In jails across the country, including Harris County, a majority of the people behind bars have not been convicted of a crime. In the jail complex on the north side of downtown Houston, more … Continue reading →

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You have the right to a phone call

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

But it won’t help you much if you don’t know what number to call. [Harris County Sheriff’s] Deputies on Wednesday outlined a pilot program they hope will help lower the jail population by letting detainees copy five numbers out of … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: For the joint processing center

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

An easy call. [V]oters should consider themselves fortunate that they can easily cut $25 million in unnecessary spending from the city’s annual budget by voting for the Joint Processing Center on Election Day. The overlapping criminal justice duties of Houston … Continue reading →

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Moving the focus back to un-crowding the jails

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is a positive development. Newly appointed Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson on Wednesday pledged to curb the increasing number of low-level felons being sentenced to serve misdemeanor time in the county jail rather than going to prison, known … Continue reading →

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Whitmire weighs in on Harris jail population

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. John Whitmire has pushed back on some of the explanations given for the recent uptick in the Harris County jail population, beginning with the claim that it’s due to state jails taking longer than usual to pick up … Continue reading →

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More on Kim Ogg

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the full Chron story about Kim Ogg’s declaration that she will run for Harris County DA as a Democrat in 2014. “I have the varied experience in policy, in prevention and in prosecution that I think gives me a … Continue reading →

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We have to worry about jail overcrowding again

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. After a nearly two-year hiatus, the Harris County jail population is nearing capacity, prompting officials to again consider whether to ship some inmates to out-of-state lockups. The latest jail population report shows the total number of detainees dropped … Continue reading →

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