Thread by @equalityAlec

This is HUGE GOOD news: The data is in from Texas, and our @CivRightsCorps federal court victory striking down the money bail system has released tens of thousands of people from cages, saved millions of dollars, and made the community safer. Look at these numbers:

Before we sued, about 40% of people charged with misdemeanors were caged away from their families before trial. That was about 20,000 people every year. Now, 90% of the human beings charged with misdemeanors are released.

Before we sued, about 60% of cases ended in a conviction, trapping the poorest people in an endless assembly line cycle of jail-->fines/fees-->license suspension-->jail. Now, because people are free and not coerced into pleading guilty, 68% of cases end in dismissal or acquittal!

The result means tens of thousands fewer minor convictions every year for the poorest people in Houston, millions of dollars staying with families who need it, and people able to drive their kids to school and to work.

The reduction in money bail means about $4 million less in profits for the for-profit bail industry every year. That's wealth not extracted from the poorest communities in Houston and sent to global insurance companies and private equity conglomerates that own the bail industry.

The reduction in the use of money bail has also seriously reduced the racial disparities in who courts choose to release prior to trial. Prior to the lawsuit, about 50% of Black people charged with minor misdemeanors were detained, and now over 80% are released.

Moreover, the elimination of detention based solely on wealth has saved millions of dollars for the County government and hasn't led to any increase in police-reported "crime" whatsoever.

Also, even though our separate felony lawsuit is still pending, the pretrial detention rate has decreased from 60% to 35% in serious felony cases. Thousands more people reunited with their children.

You can watch a short video that includes what the horrific system used to look like here:

https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1189527175965413376

There is a long way to go. The system is still unspeakably brutal and more unfair, harsh, and disgusting than any other comparable country around the world. But the fighting done by local advocates and the challenges to the money bail system have helped people's everyday lives.

The Texas legislature has recently begun an assault on this progress in an attempt to bring back the cash bail system to boost the profits of the money bail industry and to give prosecutors more leverage to force people to plead guilty. This will be a hard fight.

Follow the work of amazing groups like @TxJailProject and @FairDefense and @TXCivilRights and @ACLUTx and @OrganizeTexas and @LiberateHTX and @PureJustice_HTX who are fighting these bureaucracies of pain and punishment every day.

Among the many people who have worked so hard to make this happen is super lawyer @BethR410, who has worked tirelessly to make these changes a reality.

To be clear, this case only involves Harris County, Texas. Many of the counties in Texas still very much use cash bail, even and especially in the most minor cases, and the system across Texas remains very much unconstitutional.

You can read much more about the case, the federal court rulings, our clients' words, and the history here: civilrightscorps.org/work/wealth-ba…