Harris County Bail - Democratic Judges

 

I'm so done with the peanut butter gallery of local Republicans using the fact the Constitution requires reasonable bail as a political football against the current slate of Democratic judges.  Being Democratic doesn't make them bad judges.  There's far worse characteristics when it comes to judges so why not make a better argument?  Because people who know nothing about our legal system get to vote for judges.  Dumbest idea ever.  It's insulting that I have to appear in front of some of these demagogues - just because they have the money to illegally litter their campaign signs in the public right of way.  And now since the Republicans are seemingly gone forever in Harris County, new candidates with no prior party loyalties have no compunction about putting that big "D" right next to their smiling face in said illegally placed campaign signs.

 

 In the bail bond handbook published by the Texas Association of Counties, it even neutrally states that bail is necessary as a practical matter to keep the jail population down.  This is the real nuts and bolts of running a county.  Most conservative voters don't know better, but the people perpetuating this BS certainly do.

 

With COVID bringing real, unmasked, and in person criminal jury trials to a halt (and even more importantly, civil debt collection as well), it was bound to happen that the jail would fill up.  So you have to make choices about who you really need to keep in there. 

 

One annoying example of this phenomenon is the murder of Corey Lennard Thompson.  The family is trying to make so much political hay out of their dead son by bringing up the issue that the guy accused of murder was out on bond.  The only thing he was out on bond for was some chickenshit assault case where he punched a dude over a dispute about girl.  What is a judge supposed to do?  Keep him locked up for two, three years until we can get to a misdemeanor assault trial? Most people haven't even thought through it this far.

 

Hey boomer, you're not for "law and order" if you tear down our legal system just because judges from the opposing party do their mandatory public duty in setting bail. If you're a real conservative, stop complaining about the fact bail exists. You want bail to disappear because you're desperate to make short term political gains in county politics? Be careful what you wish for.  a