the two attorneys in that case are from this group:
https://civilrightscorps.org/one thing's for sure - Karakatsanis has his fingerprints all over the direction harris county and elsewhere in texas has taken the last couple years. but there might be some hope, per that article:
Quote:
Russell plaintiffs have heavily relied on ODonnell to make their case against cash bail for felony offenders. But earlier this year, in an unusual en banc hearing regarding a similar case in Dallas County also filed by Karakatsanis, the Fifth Circuit undermined the legal foundation for the ODonnell decision. It now seems poised to overturn the entire case sometime in the coming months based on the "Younger Abstention Doctrine" which prohibits federal courts from intervening in the state criminal process.
what also is mind boggling, is if you read the link to that fifth circuit decision, is this
Quote:
The controversial consent decree settlement has governed misdemeanor bail setting and required judges and magistrates to release most misdemeanor defendants on personal recognizance bonds for the past two years. Although the settlement does not govern felony bonds, many criminal court judges in Harris County have adopted a similar approach to felony bond setting that favors the release of suspects, even in cases of capital murder.
The ODonnell consent decree also required county taxpayers to provide $3.7 million to Civil Rights Corps, and mandated increased funding for pretrial services and prompted the creation of a county-level Justice Administration Department to promote changes to the criminal justice system.
Prior to the ODonnell consent decree, Harris County was beginning to implement a risk assessment tool that allowed for individualized bail hearings. Tarrant County as well as others in Texas have adopted such tools in the past few years.