In Harris County, the ‘Slow Erosion’ of a System That Keeps People in Jail Because They’re Poor
“The stakes are certainly high. Civil rights groups say Rosenthal’s bail ruling, which is currently on appeal before the federal Fifth Circuit court, could alter bail practices across the country and end assembly line justice for the poor. The reform movement spread last week when the same civil rights groups that challenged Harris County’s bail system filed a similar lawsuit in Dallas County. Last Wednesday, during a panel on criminal justice reform inside Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Houston’s Fifth Ward, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis compared the Houston case to Brown v. Board of Education in terms of its potential civil rights impact.”