Bail Reform Success
Bail Reform Advocates Finally Have Proof That Bail Reform Works in One Jurisdiction…It is Commonly Known as FANTASYLAND!
No matter how many times they say it, or how many times they write it, free release on cashless bail will NEVER be as effective as release on a financially secured surety bond through a licensed bail agent. Since Donald Trump announced and signed his executive order on cashless bail, bail reform proponents have turned on the propaganda machine full force. From the Brennan Center for Justice’s report claiming bail reform has not increased crime to the Bail Project’s Tulsa report claiming free release without financial security or oversight produces better appearance rates than secured bail, these bail reform activist groups are flooding the media with propaganda. They swear that their research proves that their soft on crime approach to criminal justice works. They show fancy charts and cite statistics. They reference other activist studies that support their findings. They showcase studies of counties that have reduced reliance on surety bonds and swear that the public is now safer. Of course, the only problem with their research and studies is that they all take place in the same jurisdiction…a jurisdiction commonly referred to as FANTASYLAND.
The Marshall Project’s Mischaracterization of Probable Cause
The most recent example comes from the Marshall Project. This openly anti-bail and non-objective publication released an article this past weekend entitled, “As Texas Restricts Cashless Bail, More People will be Jailed for Months Based on an Accusation.” The article is a critique of several new laws that recently passed in the last legislative session in Texas. The title alone tells you everything you need to know about the Marshall Project article. First, people aren’t arrested because of an accusation. They are arrested based on something called probable cause. In other words, there is enough initial proof and evidence to arrest and detain the individual. But apparently in Fantasyland, you don’t have probable cause…you just simply have an accusation, and it is enough to hold people for months.
What Really Happened in ODonnell v. Harris County
The article also talks about the groundbreaking lawsuit in ODonnell v. Harris County where Judge Lee Rosenthal found the bail system used in Harris County violated procedural due process. They also mention how an independent monitor reported that Harris County’s new free release system was working great. The unnerving thing about these claims is that they are both patently false. What the Marshall Project fails to mention is that Judge Rosenthal’s rulings in the case were overturned not once, not twice but more than 7 times by the United States Court of Appeal for the 5th Circuit. Also, the court held in a subsequent case that ODonnell should have never been filed in federal court. They also fail to mention that the independent monitor’s report is not the only source regarding whether the consent decree/settlement agreement was a success. The article fails to mention that the sitting district attorney at the time, Kim Ogg, filed a report stating that the consent decree was not a success and that crime was increasing. Also, the Houston Police Officers Association reviewed a week’s worth of dockets in the misdemeanor courts under the consent decree and they found a failure to appear rate of at least 75%. Also, the website Harris County Court Watch extended this review covering two years of data from the clerk’s office and found an average failure to appear rate of 83%. Only in this hyper partisan world and in the jurisdiction of Fantasyland does a report get published saying something was a great success and fails to even acknowledge the overwhelming evidence that supports the conclusion that it wasn’t.
The article also discusses recent legislative changes in Texas that they believe will make it harder for people to get out of jail. What they don’t talk about is that these changes were made because of the lack of accountability and crime increases from Harris County’s free release program. When over 80% of defendants are thumbing their noses at the courts and failing to appear, you no longer have an accountable system. Letting people out of jail for free and expecting them to show up for court without financially securing their release might work in Fantasyland, but it definitely does not work in the real world.