Judge says Houston-area bail system unfair to poor offenders

HOUSTON—A judge rebuked Houston-area authorities for imposing a bail system that's unfair to people arrested for lesser offenses who are detained for long periods because they're unable to pay for their release.

The ruling Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal was part of a lawsuit from a single mother who was held for two days on a charge of driving without a license because she couldn't afford the $2,500 bail.

Among other findings, Rosenthal determined Harris County's bail policy violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

"Harris County's policy is to detain indigent misdemeanor defendants before trial, violating equal protection rights against wealth-based discrimination and violating due process protections against pretrial detention without proper procedures or an opportunity to be heard," she wrote in a 193-page ruling.

District Attorney Kim Ogg, elected last year after promising to reform the bail system, said in a statement that the decision is a "watershed moment in Harris County criminal-justice history."

She said low-level offenders "have faced detention, sometimes for months, in maximum-security facilities, such as the Harris County Jail, when in some instances their offenses don't even warrant jail time upon conviction."

Rosenthal ordered the county to soon begin releasing indigent inmates without posting cash bail while they await trial on misdemeanor offenses.

A broader push is underway for bail-reform measures across Texas.

The Texas Judicial Council found late last year that about a quarter of the 41,000 inmates awaiting trial at the time in Texas posed little threat to the public. The council said those people were incarcerated because they couldn't afford to post bail or in some cases were unfairly identified as flight risks.