The Texas Fair Defense Project, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, and Covington & Burling LLP filed a lawsuit Monday over the unlawful, prolonged detention of four immigrants by two counties on the Texas border in 2021 and 2022.
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Migrants who were arrested for misdemeanor trespass under Operation Lone Star were incarcerated an additional 13-42 days after their charges were dropped or their sentences fully served, according to the lawsuit. Such overdetention violates the U.S. Constitution and the clear commands of Texas criminal procedures. The complaint names two county sheriffs, counties, state and county officials and a private company who collectively share and individually caused plaintiffs’ overdetention. 

The plaintiffs were arrested under Governor Greg Abbott's “Operation Lone Star.” The lawsuit highlights one manifestation of the program’s disregard for the rule of law. Arrest, detention, and overdetention—what this case is about—are happening alongside the construction of dangerous barriers, including concertina wire along the banks and waters of the Rio Grande and buoys separated by circular saws in U.S. and Mexican territories.  
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“Texas’ cruel border politics and policies are wasteful, inflammatory, and riddled with human and civil  rights abuses,” said David Donatti, attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Our clients were locked up for days and weeks after state law commanded they should be released. What’s more, hundreds or thousands of others have been subjected to the same or similar disregard of their rights. Governor Abbott has manipulated unchecked executive power and Texas’ criminal laws to leverage control over border communities and endanger migrants. In the United States, and in Texas, the government cannot impose criminal penalties without due process of law.” 

The Texas government has spent billions of dollars on OLS, including deploying state police and national guards, commandeering public parks and private property, and putting up miles of razor-wire lain in community parks, coiled along banks of the Rio Grande, and wrapped around barrels and submerged in the river’s waters. We have seen injured people and families given misleading directions by authorities rather than water in triple-digit temperatures. 

Despite repeated allegations of international, civil, and human rights violations, and no receipts demonstrating the system’s necessity or efficacy, wasteful spending and needless violence have only escalated. During the recent Texas legislative session, lawmakers approved billions more for border policing. This lawsuit alleging overdetention highlights an important example – but not an isolated one – of the illegal consequences of Texas’ anti-immigration policies. 

Arrestees in the OLS system are forced into pretrial facilities unique to the program. Detained far away from where they were arrested, and with court coming from state-appointed judges via video feed, Plaintiffs recalled abhorrent conditions during their unlawful detention: They were not given an adequate amount of food, were rarely allowed to go outside, suffered from inadequate heat or clothing, and received insufficient access to medical care during their detention. They were incarcerated in these conditions for months before receiving any due process, and then continued to be incarcerated after their charges had been dismissed or their sentences had been served. 

“The government cannot just grab whoever they want off the street and lock them in cages as long as they feel like it,” said Camilla Hsu, Managing Attorney for Litigation at the Texas Fair Defense Project. “To put it plainly, what happened here was that the legal process said there was no reason for our clients to be in jail, but instead of letting them go, the Defendants in this case illegally jailed them, with no authority whatsoever, for weeks. Abuses like this are horrifying, but sadly unsurprising, in the sham criminal legal system of Operation Lone Star.”  

TFDP and its partners are bringing this lawsuit to seek money damages and hold those involved accountable, including: 

- Kinney and Val Verde County
- Kinney County and Val Verde County sheriffs
- Wardens of Briscoe and Segovia Unit State Prison

Operation Lone Star is touted as a border policy that operates across the state to allow Department of Public Safety troopers, Texas National Guard members, and local law enforcement to use state criminal trespass charges to target and arrest migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum. 

‍Access the full complaint here.

The Texas Fair Defense Project (TFDP) has filed a malpractice lawsuit against Harris County attorney Jerome Godinich on behalf of his former client, Michael Carter. Mr. Carter was held in jail for more than three years for a case that was ultimately dismissed. During that time, Mr. Carter lost his ability to work, his credit, his truck, and his wife of over 40 years, whose funeral he was unable to attend.

Over the course of more than three years, Mr. Godinich never visited Mr. Carter in jail, never filed a substantive motion, and never responded to Mr. Carter’s requests for information about his case. Mr. Godinich violated prevailing practice standards, professional ethics, and the law. His poor representation harmed Mr. Carter, who was left in jail through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with no information about his case or whether he would ever be released.

"I just don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through,” said Mr. Carter. “To sit there every day in jail for years and never hear from your lawyer? Nobody deserves that.”

Mr. Carter is not alone. Mr. Godinich represents hundreds of persons in felony cases each year, billing Harris County upward of $500,000 annually. Although Harris County has a public defender’s office, private attorneys like Mr. Godinich still represent most persons accused of a felony in Harris County.

“Mr. Carter sat in jail for years without receiving even basic representation from his attorney, and Harris County taxpayers still wrote him a check,” said TFDP Executive Director Geoff Burkhart. “Last year, Harris County paid attorneys over $30 million for felony representation, yet—with the exception of the public defender’s office, which handles just a fraction of the cases—there is little attorney oversight. Harris County needs a robust, independent public defense system.”

A copy of the complaint can be accessed here.

Today the Texas Fair Defense Project (TFDP) and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit against Caldwell County for holding criminal proceedings in secret. Plaintiffs—Texas Tribune, Mano Amiga, and Caldwell/Hays Examiner—were denied access to magistration proceedings in Caldwell County in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Attending magistration is critical, because it allows the public and the press to learn first-hand about accusations by police, whether there were proper grounds for an arrest, and whether the person arrested wishes to exercise their right to counsel. It is also where the court sets bail, which often determines whether the person arrested will spend the next days, weeks, or years of their life in jail. Yet, in Caldwell County, all of this happens behind closed doors.

“A blanket ban on public access to courtrooms isn’t good for anyone,” says Caldwell/Hays Examiner publisher Jordan Buckley. “Victims, family members, community members, and the press all have a right to see what happens at magistration. It erodes public trust in the judicial system when we cannot see what our tax dollars are paying for.”

“Access to magistration ensures people who are arrested are treated fairly and their ability to pay is taken into account in setting bail,” adds Eric Martinez, Executive and Policy Director at Plaintiff Mano Amiga. “Even a few days in jail can lead to loss of jobs, vehicles and housing – consequences that devastate families and communities of the accused and underscore the importance of their right to attend magistration."

“Open courts are a hallmark of American democracy,” says TFDP Managing Attorney of Litigation Camilla Hsu. “Allowing the press and the public into the courtroom helps ensure transparency and accountability. We shouldn’t deprive someone of their liberty in secret.”

A copy of the complaint can be accessed here.

Texas Fair Defense Project is seeking applicants for a fellowship project focusing on providing criminal defense representation for “fine-only” Class C misdemeanor cases in municipal and Justice of the Peace (JP) courts in Texas. The applicant selected for the fellowship will partner with TFDP to develop an application for the 2024-2026 Equal Justice Works fellowship and other similar fellowship programs.

This fellowship project seeks to provide and expand access to counsel in a current legal desert throughout Texas – municipal and JP courts. In these courts, people are prosecuted for "fine-only" Class C Misdemeanors, including traffic violations and the lowest-level penal code provisions. While the sentencing range for Class C misdemeanors does not include jail time, people convicted of these charges often end up in jail if they cannot afford to comply with the other conditions of their sentence, which often include paying costs, fines, and fees, and going to expensive classes. In Texas, there is a deeply entrenched cycle of ticket debt in which inability to pay for one ticket often snowballs into an insurmountable heap of additional tickets and related driver’s license suspensions and holds. Class C convictions can have immigration consequences and can serve as predicates for enhanced charges or sentencing that can result in incarceration.

Almost no one has a lawyer to represent them in municipal and JP courts. The goal of this fellowship is to improve outcomes and study the impacts of representation at these court hearings by applying a “shock treatment” to specific courts, representing everyone who wants a free lawyer there during certain, specific time periods. Part of the work will be traditional defense lawyering - the Fellow will provide direct representation to anyone in court during specific dates who wants a free lawyer for the duration of their case, including motions practice, trial, and appeals. Another part of the work will involve policy work and data analysis – the Fellow will evaluate the typical outcomes in the specific courts before, during, and after the “shock treatment” to establish the benefits of zealous defense representation in these kinds of courts to inform potential policy and litigation campaigns to expand access to counsel in these spaces. 

Job Responsibilities 

The fellow will be based in Austin or Houston, Texas, with significant travel within the state anticipated, reports to the Director of Client Services, and would be responsible for the following:

• Court watching / observation and data collection;
• Meeting prospective clients and offering legal services;
• Representing clients in Class C cases through pre-trial, trial, and, if necessary, post-conviction litigation; 
• Analyzing data around case outcomes in specific municipal and JP courts;
• Producing educational materials about the impacts and importance of defense counsel in Class C cases;
• Local and statewide policy advocacy around access to counsel in Class C cases;
• Local and statewide policy advocacy and/or affirmative litigation around legal deficiencies identified in the courts in which the Fellow practices; and
• Other duties as appropriate. 

Qualifications

We are seeking candidates who are organized, highly motivated, independent, and enthusiastic about making the criminal legal system more fair, particularly for low-income people accused of minor offenses. 

You should have:

• A J.D. with eligibility to practice in Texas or willingness to take Texas bar exam (by Summer 2024);
• Experience with the criminal legal system (whether personally, professionally, or both);
• Experience providing excellent legal services to low-income people;
• Commitment to client-centered representation with an eye toward strategy for systemic change;
• A track record of maintaining strong working relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders; and
• A demonstrated interest in social justice.

Salary commensurate with experience and may vary according to particular fellowship plan parameters, but will start at a minimum of $62,000. TFDP provides all fellows medical and dental benefits, paid vacation, sick and family leave. TFDP is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, people who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system, and people from other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. This position is contingent on fellowship funding with a possibility for renewal.

To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume, and a list of three references via this form. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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The Texas Fair Defense Project (TFDP) and civil rights lawyer A. Dami Animashaun have filed a class action lawsuit against Smith County, Texas for illegally detaining Texans in the Smith County Jail for days or weeks after they had finished their sentences:

• Named plaintiff Lively was illegally jailed for 8 days after his release date.

• Named plaintiff Hughes was illegally jailed for 27 days after his release date.

• Named plaintiff Alonzo was illegally jailed for 33 days after her release date.

And they’re not alone. Many have languished in the Smith County Jail for days or weeks after finishing their sentences—all on the taxpayer’s dime.

"I just wanted to get home to my family,” says Ms. Alonzo. “I was supposed to be released after I went to court, but it took 33 days. Every day, I asked when I would get out. No one could tell me.”

“Our clients made a deal with Smith County,” says TFDP Executive Director Geoff Burkhart. “They gave up their right to trial, and the County promised to release them on a certain day. Smith County didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.”

“Smith County not only violated the law and deprived our clients of their liberty,” says TFDP Staff Attorney Nathan Fennell. “The County also wasted taxpayer dollars and strained an overcrowded facility. It’s not fair to our clients, it’s not fair to jail staff, and it’s not fair to taxpayers.”

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The Texas Fair Defense Project Board of Directors is thrilled to welcome Geoff Burkhart as our new Executive Director. Geoff is a criminal justice leader and reformer, who has devoted his career to improving outcomes for poor and marginalized persons accused of crimes. Geoff’s leadership, vision, and dedication to ending the criminalization of poverty are sure to enhance TFDP’s impact for years to come.

Geoff comes to TFDP from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, where he served as Executive Director. Under his leadership, the State of Texas more than doubled its public defense budget and more than doubled the number of public defender offices. Geoff has also served as a public defender, adjunct law professor, public defense counsel at the American Bar Association, and President of the National Association for Public Defense.

“I’m delighted to serve as TFDP’s Executive Director,” says Geoff. “From policy work, to direct representation, to impact litigation, TFDP has long been a state and national leader in justice reform.”

TFDP thanks Camilla Hsu and Sarah Mae Jennings for their excellent and tireless work as TFDP’s Interim Co-Executive Directors. Camilla and Sarah Mae have gone above and beyond in their dedication to TFDP, and we are excited for them to return to their respective roles as Managing Attorney of Litigation and Policy Director. Camilla, Sarah Mae, and each of TFDP’s remarkable staff will allow Geoff to hit the ground running.

Geoff will assume his role as Executive Director in mid-June 2023. We are excited for him to work toward TFDP’s goal of a legal system that upholds the dignity and rights of all persons, regardless of income, race, or gender.

Here's how we've been beating the heat this summer:

TFDP is growing!

Over the past few months, TFDP has made several additions to our team. Here are our new colleagues helping us fulfill our mission:

‍Yvonne London (she/her) - Yvonne M. London’s work includes providing direct representation and pro se assistance with clearing criminal records. Yvonne also is working with the Clean Slate Texas Coalition to advocate for policy changes that would increase access to criminal record clearing services in Texas. Yvonne earned her Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Rutgers University and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Wayne State University.

‍Hans Maverick (he/him) - Hans is a long-time Texas resident and a recent graduate of Austin Community College with an Associate degree in Paralegal Studies. He joined TFDP in April 2022 as a Pro Bono Program Legal Assistant. In that role, he is helping expand TFDP's capacity to provide direct criminal legal services, including record clearing and driver’s license reinstatement, to low-income Texans.

‍Lulu Portillo (she/her) - Lulu Portillo is the Systems Navigator at TFDP. She joined the TFDP team in May 2022 to assist the Client Services team in providing additional advocacy and support to our clients with their non-legal issues. Previously, Lulu served 5.5 years as the Foster Youth Specialist of the Texas Foster Youth Justice Project. Before that, she was a Bilingual Survivor Advocate at the SAFE Alliance, working with survivors of domestic violence and abuse.  Lulu is an alumnus of Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas.

‍Sandra Organ Solís (she/her) - Sandra Organ, Houston Ballet's first Black ballerina, comes to TFDP with her background in non profit arts administration, as founding Artistic Executive Director of Earthen Vessels, a 501(c)3 dance ensemble that diversified audiences in Houston Tx. She has a B.A. in Human Services Administration from Antioch College, and lives in Hays County, as a Precinct chair for the Democratic Party, and a social movement activist.

Summer Interns:

Thanks to very generous support from Rebecca Webber and Shahin Amini, TFDP is proud to host several amazing interns this summer. Their work is integral to several of our current license recovery, record restoration, accountability, probation, and defense efforts.

Our Recent Impact:

PCs for People: Since starting, Systems Navigator Lulu Portillo has been identifying and connecting with former record clearing clients and helping them apply for a free laptop through the PCs for People program. To date, 20 of our clients have applied for a new PC through this program. In addition to getting a free computer, Lulu will also help them set up Indeed.com accounts so that they can begin job searching with their newly cleared records.

Probation Services: Over the past few months, Equal Justice Works Fellow Harjeen Zibari successfully waived an additional $8,907 in fines, fees, and restitution--for a total of $55,877.69 since the program’s launch in September 2020. She had 2 additional early termination requests granted, and has 8 more pending. In order to provide assistance to those outside of her service area, Harjeen is also compiling a self-help packet to guide individuals to request assistance with probation fees pro se.

Furthermore, Harjeen was elected to serve as a committee member for the State Bar of Texas’s Legal Services for the Poor in Criminal Matters (LSP) Committee. This will allow her to use her firsthand knowledge of client experiences to inform statewide indigent defense policies.

‍Criminal Record Clearing: Our new staff attorney, Yvonne London, has hit the ground running with criminal records and driver licenses cases. Yvonne is working alongside Pro Bono Director Sarah Mae Jennings with 63 clients on their record-clearing cases.

‍‍Indigent Defense: Staff Attorney Nathan Fennell is leading our indigent defense work and has participated in the Texas Indigent Defense Commission’s legislative working group to advocate for policies that improve indigent defense systems throughout the state of Texas.

‍Client Advocacy Fellowship: Our new cohort of Advocacy Fellows have successfully completed orientation, a local advocacy training, and participated in a statewide conversation around our Justice Reinvestment legislation. In the next few weeks, we will be hosting a training on letter-writing and correspondence with elected officials, and engaging fellows in our legislative planning conversations. (Here's how you can support our client advocacy work!)

Here are just some of TFDP's key achievements since the beginning of the year:

‍Pro Bono Program

Success Stories: A pro bono attorney assisted a client who has had her license suspended for over a decade by handling 11 citations in 3 different jurisdictions, getting all but one ticket outright dismissed in the span of a little over 2 months. Courts waived $5,120.00 in fines and costs and our client is on her way to having a driver’s license for the first time in more than 10 years. See how you can support our pro bono program!

This quarter, Pro Bono Attorney John Zappia (Sidley Austin) closed out TFDP’s first criminal record clearing case through the Pro Bono Program! After successfully petitioning for Harris County expunction, John had this to say about the Pro Bono Program: “I enjoyed my time working with the Texas Fair Defense Project. All of the necessary information was provided in the record clearing roadmap and Sarah [Mae] always made herself available to answer questions. [...] TFDP was very responsive to my questions, provided clear directions and was a great organization to work with. [...] Please keep me informed of any future opportunities to work with your clients. Many of my colleagues are also interested in getting involved in pro bono matters after hearing about the success of [my client’s] case.”

Class C & Driver Licenses: Since the beginning of this year, TFDP's Managing Attorney of Client Services Karly Jo Dixon has had 58 cases dismissed for 48 clients. Among these clients, 18 have also fully recovered their ability to drive legally with over $22,000 of criminal legal debt waived or dismissed.

Probation Services: Equal Justice Works Fellow Harjeen Zibari has opened 5 new cases this quarter to address probation costs and early terminations. She successfully helped 1 client terminate their probation early, avoided probation extensions for 3, and waived an additional $12,383.00 in fines, fees, and restitution.

Record Restoration: Pro Bono Program Director Sarah Mae Jennings has closed out 20 cases this quarter. Sarah Mae also worked with Pro Bono Attorney Sam Bragg (Alston & Bird) to file an appellate brief with the Third Court of Appeals in Austin on behalf of a client who successfully petitioned for expunction at the trial court level.

Reimagining Public Safety

As a part of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, we recently helped to defeat the creation of a City Marshal’s Office, which would have resulted in a new law enforcement agency at our municipal courts. We are currently working with a diverse coalition to promote a city budget process that values community input and participation, and directs dollars to the services most needed by the community. See how you can support our collaborative work!

Advocacy, Education, and Policy

Ability to Pay Guidance: Harjeen Zibari also used her knowledge from direct representation to complete an Ability to Pay Guidance for current judges and practitioners. The Guidance covers the current statutory scheme surrounding fines and fees in criminal cases, as well as the mandatory ability to pay determination requirement that was implemented with the passage of SB 1373 . The State Bar Committee for Legal Services for the Poor in Criminal Matters (“LSP”) voted unanimously to adopt it, and now the Guidance awaits approval from the LSP’s supervisory board.

Trainings: Sarah Mae Jennings developed and presented two criminal record clearing CLE trainings this quarter: one on determining criminal record clearing eligibility and one on drafting criminal record clearing petitions. Sarah Mae and Karly Jo Dixon held three Class C ticket and Driver’s License Recovery CLE trainings in March and April for law firms and the TFDP Pro Bono Program--and the two also continue to facilitate a monthly Legal Aid Class C Huddle with practitioners across the state.

Advocacy Fellows: As part of our commitment to center the voices of directly impacted community members in our work, we have successfully launched a second cohort of Advocacy Fellows. Advocacy Fellows are provided stipends and advocacy training in exchange for their expertise and time spent on advocacy projects. This quarter, we were able to add 3 new Fellows and retained 3 Fellows from the year before who were eager to stay on and fight to end the criminalization of poverty in Texas. We are excited to co-learn, build and win with our advocacy fellows over the next two years. See how you can support our fellows!

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TFDP is proud to announce it is the recipient of this year's Jordan Award from Austin Community Foundation. Each year, ACF uses the Jordan Award to recognize one Central Texas nonprofit for innovative volunteer programing. ACF has given TFDP this $7,000 grant in recognition of our Freedom to Drive Pro Bono program.

Read ACF's statement to learn more about the Jordan Award and our pro bono program.

Read our joint letter to Harris County Criminal District Judges, co-signed by a dozen other organizations, calling on them to hold emergency jail release hearings and take swift and powerful action to significantly reduce the jail population. Following an unprecedented weather event in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, far more action is needed than what we currently see. This is why we are calling on these judges to reduce the population by at least 4,000 people next week.
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UPDATE (March 12, 2021): The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has written a letter to Harris Couty judges supporting our demands. Read their statement on the need to drastically reduce the county's jail population immediately.

Judges in Harris County historically underutilize the Harris County Public Defender's Office, even though that office has been shown to do a better job than independent court-appointed lawyers and state law requires judges to give priority to assigning public defenders to represent cases when they have the capacity. TFDP filed disciplinary complaints against several District Court judges who consistently failed to appoint the Harris County Public Defender, instead funneling hundreds of thousands of public dollars to private lawyers on a per-case basis. TFDP will continue to monitor appointment rates in Harris County and elsewhere to ensure that judges are following the law.

TFDP filed suit against the Presidio County Sheriff over failure to comply with the Texas Public Information Act. The Sheriff refused to release basic information about who is housed in the Presidio County Jail, prompting TFDP to file suit for release of those records. Transparency is key to holding elected officials accountable and protecting the rights of the most marginalized.

On Thursday May 28, a Harris County judge granted a writ filed by TFDP challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order GA-13. Under GA-13, TFDP's client had been denied release on his earned good time and trustee credit, even though he contracted COVID-19 while working as a trustee for the Harris County Jail. TFDP continued to file writs and advocate for similarly situated people, and on June 17, 2020, the Harris County Sheriff released at least 47 additional people from the jail as the result of the original writ, for a total of at least 51 people.

TFDP advocated for the resolution, which stops the City of Austin's resources from being spent on testing THC levels for possession of marijuana cases. Because the Travis County District Attorney and County Attorney have stated that they will not prosecute cases without such testing, this resolution will effectively end prosecution of low-level marijuana cases in Austin. This resolution is an important step for racial equity in Austin. In 2018, black residents were over 15 times as likely to be cited by police for possession of marijuana as white residents.

The report, Driven By Debt: Dallas, shows the devastating effect the OmniBase program has on low-income Dallas residents, who lose their ability to get their licenses if they cannot afford to pay fines and fees. The report also notes that "[w]hile Black individuals make up only about 25 percent of the Dallas population, almost 60 percent of OmniBase holds in Dallas Municipal Court were against Black individuals in 2017."

Attorneys from TFDP spent the days leading up to the preliminary injunction hearing inside the Dallas County Jail listening to the stories of people who were being held because they could not afford their money bail. In one case, we heard from a father whose family had to choose whether to pay rent and buy food or bail him out of jail.

This discusses license suspensions and denials for unpaid fines, fees, and surcharges. Two of the people TFDP has assisted at Austin's License Reclamation Clinics discuss their experiences with the Driver Responsibility Program and the Failure to Appear/Pay program.

Read this joint blog post by TFDP's Emily Gerrick and Texas Appleseed's Mary Mergler on the landmark ruling from a federal district court in Tennessee that found the state's driver's license suspension program unconstitutional.

Staff Attorney Karly Dixon said of the clinics: "We want people to drive their kids to school without fear, to be able to go to work, to have better jobs, and all of those things are possible with a valid driver's license."

TFDP's staff attorney Emily Gerrick is featured this piece from the Austin Monitor talking about our work to end anti-homeless ordinances.

More from the on TFDP's advocacy to end the criminalization of homelessness in Austin as part of a coalition of activists.

TFDP's Susanne Pringle discusses the litigation in the Reasonably Suspicious podcastfrom criminal justice policy blog Grits for Breakfast.

TFPD's Annette Price spoke at the Tuesday Rally to End the Criminalization of Homelessness: "Don’t push the homeless people further into debt. This is doing a disservice to humanity."

The Austin American Statesman reports on a panel reviewing Austin municipal judges. TFDP staff attorney Emily Gerrick was involved in the review process. “You need judges who treat people with respect and are compassionate and make bail decisions based on whether someone was a threat, whether they are a flight risk and their ability to pay,” Gerrick said.

TFDP is thrilled that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld judge Rosenthal's ruling, reaffirming that Harris County's discriminatory money bail system is unconstitutional. As counties across Texas reconsider their own pretrial practices, we urge them to consider this historic decision that was handed down by one of the most conservative courts in the US. It is time to eliminate the two-tiered system of justice that detains the poor while allowing more affluent people to purchase their freedom.

The Texas Fair Defense Project and the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) are urging White Settlement City Council to hold the White Settlement Municipal Court Judge accountable for routinely breaking law and punishing people for being poor.

TFDP's Susanne Pringle discusses bail reform and our recent litigation on today's episode of Texas Matters on Texas Public Radio.

More on our lawsuit against Dallas County: an in-depth article about the injustice of their current bail system, and proposed reforms that could end unfair wealth-based pretrial detention.

TFDP continues our fight against unfair, unconstitutional bail practices. We have filed suit against Dallas County with our partners Civil Rights Corp, ACLU-TX, and ACLU National.

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TFDP and others have been working on this ordinance (Ordinance Language) for months, and we’re thrilled that the Austin City Council unanimously decided to pass it. Special thanks to Council Member Garza and her staff for championing this ordinance, which will help countless low-income Austinites take care of their tickets and escape a terrible cycle of debt and incarceration. Additional coverage at the Austin Chronicle.

TFDP helps low-income Texans like Kelly Unterburger, who are unfairly charged for the costs of their court-appointed attorneys. Big thanks to the Texas Tribune for covering the problem of unconstitutional attorney fees in this article.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments last week on our landmark bail reform case. For more coverage of the case from the Houston Press, click here.

TFDP has been working hard during the 2017 Legislative Session to help pass SB 1913 and HB 351, two nearly identical bills, into law. These bills will reform the way courts handle the collection of criminal fines and fees, and will encourage judges to work with people who can’t afford to pay instead of locking them in jail. Click here to read our fact sheet.

Yesterday the Texas Senate approved Senator Whitmire's bail reform bill, a top TFDP priority.

New York Times coverage of our win in federal court in our lawsuit again Harris County. Thanks to co-counsel Civil Rights Corps and Susman Godfrey LLP! This is an exciting victory that could fundamentally change the way money-bail operates in Texas.

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis took action by joining the NAACP Legal Defense Fund  in filing an amicus brief in support of the bail bond lawsuit filed by TFDP, Civil Rights Corps, and Susman Godfrey LLP. The other commissioners were not happy, resulting in a debate at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court. is a long-time champion of criminal justice reform.

Ending modern-day debtor’s prisons is one of TFDP’s priorities. Staff Attorney Emily Gerrick is quoted in this excellent Tribune article about the problem and proposed legislative solutions.

Under pressure from TFDP’s lawsuit, Harris County scrambles to implement reform. This is a step in the right direction, but doesn’t respond to the lawsuit’s core constitutional claim.

This article covers upcoming legislative measures and TFDP's and Texas Appleseed's joint report.

TFDP and our partners at Civil Rights Corps have filed another lawsuit against Harris County, this time for violating the constitutional right to have arresting officers put in writing and swear to the set of facts that are the reason for the arrest. There must be an official explanation for why someone is charged with a crime; TFDP is here to ensure that this right is a reality.

Texas Fair Defense Project clients Valerie Gonzales and Karian Harris were featured on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman in a story about possible reforms coming to the Austin Municipal Court. TFDP is proud of Ms. Gonzales and Ms. Harris for their hard work on behalf of other Austinites whose lives have been impacted by Municipal Court fines, fees and court costs.

The Texas Fair Defense Project joined Equal Justice Under Law and the law firm Susman Godfrey in their suit against Harris County, the Harris County Sheriff and Criminal Law Hearing Officers for unlawful bail practices on Friday, May 20, 2016. The lawsuit, O’Donnell v. Harris County, alleges that Harris County has an illegal practice of releasing individuals charged with low-level offenses based solely on their ability to pay a set monetary amount before trial, which discriminates against low-income people.