HOUSTON – Members of the Texas Civil Rights Project held a news conference following a hearing over the future of Harris County’s felony bail system.
According to information from the TCRP, “Judge H. Lee Rosenthal will hear arguments in Russell v. Harris County from lawyers for Harris County, the Sheriff, the state of Texas, and Plaintiffs – who are people detained pretrial because they can’t afford a cash payment to get out.”
The main issue that was set to be discussed at the hearing, was whether or not the county’s bail system goes against the U.S. Constitution and whether the federal court has the power to remedy the harms caused by illegal pretrial detention.