GOP judge drops out of federal bail lawsuit

Republican breaks with colleagues, says it’s time to end case

A long-serving Harris County Republican judge has broken with 14 Republican colleagues, withdrawing from the county’s appeal in a landmark federal lawsuit challenging its bail system for discriminating against poor, low-level offenders.

Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Mike Fields, who has presided in misdemeanor court since 1999, had a dramatic change of heart this week at a federal court hearing on the bail case, and he now wants the county to put its limited resources into settling the matter.

“If we just talk to one another, if we can just get in the room and talk, maybe we can resolve this issue,” said Fields, 52. “It’s costly on both sides — it costs in terms of human lives and it costs in terms of taxpayer dollars.”

The county has spent more than $5 million defending itself and has appealed an April 28 ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal that the county bail practices violated the Constitution by setting up a “wealthbased” detention system. The county retained a top-dollar D.C. appellate firm to handle its appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court

of Appeals.

Fields said when he saw — during his first visit to the federal courthouse on Tuesday — how many lawyers the county had hired and how many county officials’ time was tied up with the lawsuit, he estimated the two hours for all those people amounted to $60,000.

“Two hours in a courtroom costs more than what the average citizen makes all year. Sixteen judges sitting in a courtroom (together), not doing the work of the people, think about the enormous expense of that,” Fields said.

He added: “We’re fighting about how many people get to stay in jail. I don’t see how anyone can sit in that room and not think maybe we should try another tack.”

Robert Soard, the first assistant for the Harris County Attorney’s Office, said the county is not considering withdrawing its appeal but the goal is to eventually settle the case.

“The county remains committed to a settlement that maximizes the number of misdemeanor detainees who are eligible for prompt release from jail without secured bail, that provides due regard for the rights of victims and protection of the community and preserves the independence of the judiciary,” he said.

Others’ position unchanged

Michael W. Kirk, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represents the 14 judges appealing the case, said Fields’ choice had no bearing on his clients. They were open to talking, but their position was unchanged.

“He’s entitled to do whatever he wants,” Kirk said. “The appeal needs to go forward. I can’t imagine the plaintiffs agreeing to settle on terms that would be agreeable to my clients.”

Fields, an Army veteran married to a Houston police sergeant, is up for re-election and is unopposed in the March primary for Criminal Court at Law No. 14.

Democratic leaders in the county, including Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Commissioner Rodney Ellis and District Attorney Kim Ogg have sided with the indigent defendants. The majority on both County Commissioners Court and misdemeanor courts is Republican.

The only Democrat, and the only African-American, among the court judges besides Fields is Judge Darrell Jordan, who has backed the indigent defendants suing the county since he took office last year.

Jordan said Fields sat next to him in the courtroom gallery — apart from their 14 fellow judges — at the federal court Tuesday hearing where Fields changed his mind.

“I don’t know how many judges feel the same way I do,” Jordan said. “The true question is how many have the courage to come out and say what they feel.”

Fields initially opposed the lawsuit and summed up his initial position as: “This is the way we’ve always done it. It has to be working OK. What are we doing wrong? We’re not bad people.”

When he read Rosenthal’s opinion, he thought, “She’s just so smart and so well reasoned in the way that she thinks things out.”

He understood her stance, noting, “This is not liberal judge. This is a conservative appointee.”

‘Symbolism matters’

Fields first split from the pack in a less dramatic way in June, after conservative judges on the 5th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the county’s request for a stay. Fields bowed out of the group using the private D.C. firm to file the appeal, and got a lawyer at Harris County Attorney’s Office as counsel.

He acknowledged that this act was symbolic. It didn’t save the county any money.

“Sometimes symbolism matters,” he said. “It’s about one lone voice making a difference.”

He said he withdrew from the county’s appeal altogether Friday because he was moved by Rosenthal’s remarks to the judges. She said she wasn’t rebuking the parties for a fiery exchange of letters that brought them all to court, but the heightened rhetoric didn’t help. It especially struck Fields when Rosenthal stressed how serious this case was for the people of Harris County.

“I could see and hear that she was wondering, ‘What are we arguing about, guys? We all want the same thing, a system that works and is fair for all people.’ That resonated for me.”

The path forward was clear, he said, “I’m going with my conscience.”