Mass killing at Christmas parade

It's an issue that has been raised over and over again by critics of Harris County’s bail practices: people accused of violent offenses committing crimes while they're out on bond.

But while many agree that there is a problem, not everyone agrees on how to address it.

At a committee hearing for Texas Senate Bill 21 last month, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg presented data showing that the number of defendants charged with new crimes while out on bond has gone up every year for the past five years.

The number of those accused of accused of a crime while out on two to four bonds quadrupled from 2016 to 2020, from 1,812 to 7,312.

SB21 would prohibit judges from giving low-cost or bonds to defendants who have previously violated bond conditions or who are accused of multiple crimes.

What everybody does seem to agree on is that Harris County's misdemeanor bail reform is not to blame – even though it keeps coming up in the discussion.

Harris County is currently bound to the terms of a settlement from a case that found its use of misdemeanor cash bail unconstitutionally discriminated against people who couldn’t afford to pay. Since then, people accused of misdemeanors in Harris County are often let out of jail with no cash bail – so-called personal recognizance or PR bonds
Studies have shown letting those accused of low-level crimes out of jail on low-cost or no-cash bail has not led to an increase in reoffenses.

At a recent Crime Stoppers news conference, the group's victim services director Andy Kahan, said he agreed, and wanted to clear up any misconceptions on where they stand.

"Crime Stoppers supported misdemeanor bond reform wholeheartedly," he said. "We have no issues with anybody being released on a PR or general order bond on misdemeanors."

But Kahan did take issue with what he said was a growing number of people let out on low bail amounts for felonies, and criticized the Harris County Justice Administration Department for not including statistics on reoffenders in a presentation on felony bail practices.

JAD is tasked with identifying best practices to increase public safety while ensuring fairness and bringing down incarceration rates. Research policy analyst Colin Cepuran, who created the presentation and also testified against SB21, doesn't dispute the data. But he said comparing the raw numbers from year to year can be misleading.

"It's true that more defendants are receiving bonds and more defendants are receiving multiple bonds and more bonds are failing," Cepuran said. "But that's happening because more cases are being filed and thus more bonds are being issued."

If you take that into account, he said, the rate hasn't changed much.

Cepuran added that more defendants are receiving bonds for more than one crime.

"A defendant might receive a cash bond for an aggravated assault, but also receive a personal bond for the drugs found during the investigation for the assault," Cepuran said. “In that circumstance, the defendant has to abide by the conditions of the cash bond, the more restrictive bond.”

SB21 also includes a requirement of judges to study a defendant's criminal history before determining bail. Still, Cepuran said these kinds of bills do more harm than good, because they discriminate against poor defendants — in particular people of color — and work against bail reforms that seek to address the issue of overcrowding jails without harming public safety.

Then there's a backlog of felony cases that has grown sharply since Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area and damaged the criminal courthouses, leaving them closed for weeks. The problem has only worsened due to COVID-related closures.

That means more defendants are on bond for longer, which increases the likelihood of people violating their bond conditions, Cepuran said.

Crime Stoppers' Kahan agreed that’s a problem. And he also agrees with the Justice Administration that the responsibility to stop the trend falls to individual Harris County judges.

"This is something that we're seeing district court judges do on their own," Kahan said. "They've kind of taken it upon themselves to kind of piggyback what's happening in the misdemeanor courts to the felony courts."

Kahan said that while SB21 isn't perfect, he thinks it's a good first step.

"It was basically,” he said, “in a proverbial war, the first shot to discuss the issue

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/...eement-on-the-problem-but-not-a-solution/amp/

 

Was wondering why it took so long for a thread about this to be made.

But we all know why it didn't.

Thanks OP for creating it.

Really makes you think why this doesn't warrant mentioning on my news stream in any capacity, considering the frequency of recent articles of a certain pedophile being killed, and how terrible a thing that was.

 

So this thread has become a "Liberals don't want to hold people accountable for murder if they are black" thread.

That's interesting given that no liberals have suggested not holding the suspect accountable.

It's like some people on the right have created an imaginary liberal monster that says imaginary things, but they don't know its imaginary.

 

I am down here and way to push an agenda on the back of this tragedy.

Is this a right-wing talking point currently?

 

Exactly.

 

So why did you not make a thread about it?

 

You also admitted that you didnt know groskruatz pointed the gun at rittenhouse until today. If you arent following along, why post? Nothing wrong with not following as I wish I could disconnect for awhile.

Yes, low bail for violent felons is a current issue. The suspect in this case fits that criteria according to reports.

 

Yes low bail is an issue and it's a complicated issue but you needing to shoehorn your talking point in this says a lot about you and your ilk.

What the hell does following along have to do with this incident?

So are you sure he would not have been able to make bail anyway?

What does that other thread have to do with this anyway, I have no problem admitting I had a lack of info, what's your point?

 

Do you think $1000 was appropriate bail for his charges earlier this month?

 

After covid this sort of thing doesn't seem to hit as hard.

 

I'm having a hard time finding any major news media outlet that hasn't covered this story extensively

 

the incident happened yesterday afternoon and a thread was made about it this morning.

i dont. can you explain please?

he was truly brave and courageous for creating it.

its been all over the news since it happened.

 

Dude WTF?

Where did I say it was the appropriate bail?

I already said low bail is an issue but so is high bail and I don't know the reason why the bail was set the way it was, do you?

Bail is not the issue here but somehow you need to focus on it.

Why?

 

It's the lead story on ABC World News Tonight. It doesn't get more mainstream than that.

 

Has anyone in the thread said that because it was in Wisconsin it’s self defense?

I’m not saying that, in my own self defense.

 

So far in this thread two false narratives have been presented and supported by @Downtown Sniper, @Bandwagoner and others.

1. Liberals don't want to hold people accountable for murder if they are black.

2. The mainstream media isn't covering this because the suspect is black.

Neither of these is at all true. They are demonstrably false.

It's no wonder that the GOP benefits from churning up anger. These folks are so eager to be angry, that they will be angry at imaginary issues of their own creation.

It's hard to imagine such a desperate need to be angry. It's kind of sad actually.

 

This monster has a habit of running down people. This news station has an excellent piece of reporting on this heartless loser. I thought he got out on the $1K bail, but according to this report, the judge released him on his own recognizance.

Damn, this judge, the DA and the whole legal system in Milwaukee needs to be held accountable for this unnecessary tragedy. Families of the dead and the wounded need to sue the crap out of them.

 

That was alleged. They didn't lie.

 

Media can't hide behind the word "allegedly" without doing any real investigation. It is a problem nowadays in the twitter-verse where media is trying to be the first to report on things. It's a valid criticism on the misinformation these media companies can spread and how damaging it can be.