Newsroom

Friday, November 22, 2019

“For too long, residents in Harris County have been taken advantage of by a broken,unfair, and unconstitutional bail system. Today’s decision by Judge Rosenthal puts torest the arguments used to instill fear regarding impact of bail reform. We do not have tochoose between protecting the constitutional rights of defendants and protecting publicsafety. In fact, by reforming our broken bail system, we are taking a step towardrebuilding trust between our system of justice and the residents it serves.

Under bail reform, the guilty will still be held accountable for their actions, but theaccused won’t have their lives, livelihoods, and families torn apart because they are toopoor to buy their freedom. As County Judge, I am proud to preside over a County that isleading the nation to make our criminal justice system smarter, fairer, and more costeffective. I want to thank Judge Rosenthal, the Judges of the Criminal Courts at Law,Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and the many others who haveworked so hard to improve our criminal justice system and for doing what is right.”