COUNTY Judge races could impact bail reforms
2022 VOTER GUIDE
IN CONTEXT ODONNELL
BY RACHEL CARLTON
named the county, then-Sheri Ron Hickman and ve hearing o cers as defendants, but an amended com- plaint from August 2016 added the 16 Republican misdemeanor judges. Dan Spjut, a former judge of County Criminal Court at Law No. 10 who lost his seat in 2018 and is run- ning to be reinstated, said he believes the lawsuit was “nonsense.” “The system that we were oper- ating under was not perfect by any means, … but there was never anybody in jail in my court on a misdemeanor,” Spjut said. However, Duke University law professor Brandon Garrett, the court- appointed monitor who oversees the decree, cited improvements made by bail reforms. He released a report Sept. 3 that found the number of misdemeanor cases led and the percentage of cases resulting in convictions have declined since 2015. In county government, Alexandra del Moral Mealer, the Republican opponent of County Judge Lina Hidalgo, said in a statement she would le a motion to dissolve the decree if elected. Meanwhile, Ken W. Good, an attorney who represents bail bondspersons, said a new misdemeanor judge could choose not to follow the decree. But Garrett said it takes extreme circumstances to reopen a settled case. “I don’t know if they’re going to change the system back,” said David Fleischer, County Criminal Court at Law No. 5 judge who is running for re-election. “We put in a lot of work [to show] any fear that someone might have had about [misdemeanor] bail reform is just nonsensical.”
Following years of reforms to Harris County’s misdemeanor bail system, the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm elections could see changes to court judge positions that could a ect those reforms and how misdemeanor bail is treated by the county’s justice system. Cash bail for misdemeanors was scrutinized in 2017 after U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal found the county’s policy of using cash bail to hold people in jail while they awaited trial violated the U.S. Constitution. That lawsuit included Maranda Lynn ODonnell—a single mother arrested for driving with an invalid license and held in jail for three days who was unable to pay a $2,500 bond. While the lawsuit was underway, the 2018 elections ipped the county’s misdemeanor court judges from Republicans to Democrats, according to Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. The newly elected Democratic cohort settled the lawsuit, culminating in the November 2019 ODonnell Consent Decree, eliminating cash bail for most misdemeanor arrestees. Now, with elections nearing in November for 15 out of 16 County Criminal Courts at Law—which hear Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases—Jones said the debate over the county’s reforms could spill into campaigns for all judicial races. “You’re de nitely going to see the Republican judicial candidates as a group use the idea of criminals out on bail … bonds as one of their principal campaign messages,” Jones said. When ODonnell v. Harris County was led in May 2016, the lawsuit
Misdemeanor court judges have ipped between parties the last two midterms amid the ODonnell v. Harris County lawsuit regarding the county’s misdemeanor cash bail policies that have resulted in countywide reforms. Fifteen
misdemeanor judge positions in Harris County will be on the ballot Nov. 8.
8.
APRIL 28, 2017
NOV.14, 2014
U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal issues a preliminary injunction, stopping misdemeanor cash bail countywide.
Fifteen Republican misdemeanor judges in Harris County all win their elections.
A lawsuit against the county is led by Maranda Lynn ODonnell, a mother held in jail for three days unable to pay a $2,500 bond.
NOV. 6, 2018
MAY 19, 2016
Fifteen Democratic misdemeanor judges win their elections; all 16 courts are headed by Democratic judges.
Rosenthal approves the ODonnell Consent Decree following the lawsuit, which eliminates cash bail for most misdemeanor arrestees.
NOV. 21, 2019
AUG. 31, 2016
Sixteen Harris County misdemeanor judges are added as defendants to the lawsuit.
Amended Local Rule 9 dictates changes to several county
Sheri Ed Gonzalez, County Criminal Court at Law Judge No. 16 Darrell Jordan and DA Kim Ogg win elections but are not parties to the case.
NOV. 8, 2016
JAN. 17, 2019
misdemeanor bail policies, including personal bond release, bail hearings and representation.
SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF THE ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT, HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTS AT LAW COMMUNITY IMPACT
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