Complaints filed about county bail hearings
Whitmire files formal complaints over county bail system
An influential Texas lawmaker files formal complaints against three Harris County magistrate judges after they were captured on videotape rushing misdemeanor defendants to jail apparently without considering no-cost bonds.
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 apparently without considering no-cost bonds.
State Sen. John Whitmire, DHouston, lodged the complaints with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, citing an article published Thursday in the Houston Chronicle about the hearings and videos.
“The total disregard for citizens and the complete lack of judicial temperament and professionalism are unacceptable,” Whitmire said. “I am requesting a thorough investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to determine if these violations are intentional, individual, or the responsibility of the elected judges who appoint these magistrates.”
The complaints were lodged against Magistrates Eric Hagstette, Joseph Licata III and Jill Wallace. They could not be reached for comment.
“Magistrates Hagstette, Wallace and Licata III should be prohibited from conducting any further probable cause hearings until the findings of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s investigation are available,” said Whitmire, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
The magistrates are among judges and other Harris County officials who have been named in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed
in Houston over what the suit contends is a “wealthbased detention scheme.”
The suit accuses officials of violating the rights of misdemeanor criminal defendants by jailing nearly everyone who can’t afford to post bond without properly considering their ability to pay.
Hundreds of offenders are unlawfully jailed for minor offenses such as trespassing or shoplifting simply because they can’t afford to post even nominal bail payments, according to the suit. They sometimes spend months behind bars awaiting trial.
Few defendants are freed on so-called personal bonds based on inability to pay even if they promise to appear later for court dates, records show.
The videotaped encounters — among thousands that occur 24 hours a day at the Harris County courthouse — illustrate what advocates say is judicial indifference to poverty and homelessness. They were released by the nonprofit Texas Organizing Project, which is not a party to the lawsuit.
Tarsha Jackson, a TOP organizer, applauded Whitmire’s initiative.
“It’s time we start holding people accountable and let them know we’re serious about transforming the system,” she said. “That’s the only way we’re going to be able to change the culture of how Harris County has been operating — by our representatives stepping up and supporting the community.”
Whitmire said he named the magistrates specifically in his complaint because of what he said were “obvious failures” to conduct hearings as required by statute.
“Texas governing statutes clearly state that a magistrate should exercise their full discretion when conducting probable cause hearings and setting bond amounts,” he said. “It is clear from the video of their hearings that this is clearly not the case with these magistrates. It appears the probable cause hearings in Harris County not only violate the intent of these statutes, but also the letter of the law.”
Whitmire pointed to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which specifies that during an initial court appearance, the ability to make bail is to be considered and proof may be taken on that point.