Difference between revisions of "Harris County - Judicial Misconduct"
Harris County - Judicial Misconduct (view source)
Revision as of 09:00, 23 October 2021
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We sent a petition and a majority of Commissioners Court agreed they would vote to impose them, and their lawyer approved their legal authority to do so - all in open public court. Click here to hear the audio of their voiced support from that meeting on Oct. 27th. However, we still wait for any change or action to be taken on it - it’s been months. And while we wait, anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 people/month are being harmed by being assigned an inadequate, overloaded attorney. Every moment is vital while we wait for action to be taken to restore the Sixth Amendment in Harris County. | We sent a petition and a majority of Commissioners Court agreed they would vote to impose them, and their lawyer approved their legal authority to do so - all in open public court. Click here to hear the audio of their voiced support from that meeting on Oct. 27th. However, we still wait for any change or action to be taken on it - it’s been months. And while we wait, anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 people/month are being harmed by being assigned an inadequate, overloaded attorney. Every moment is vital while we wait for action to be taken to restore the Sixth Amendment in Harris County. | ||
THE PROBLEM: | ===THE PROBLEM:=== | ||
Harris County felony judges are operating a corrupt system that oppresses people merely because they are too poor to afford an attorney. The judges accept campaign contributions and in turn appoint individual attorneys an excessive indigent defense caseload, rendering them useless to provide our disadvantaged people any real voice or defense. | Harris County felony judges are operating a corrupt system that oppresses people merely because they are too poor to afford an attorney. The judges accept campaign contributions and in turn appoint individual attorneys an excessive indigent defense caseload, rendering them useless to provide our disadvantaged people any real voice or defense. | ||
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Every day, we get letters from people in jail in the greater Houston area begging for us to help them because their court-appointed attorneys are handling too many cases. We were founded to address this problem because it’s what matters most to people stuck in jail. Letters like this: | Every day, we get letters from people in jail in the greater Houston area begging for us to help them because their court-appointed attorneys are handling too many cases. We were founded to address this problem because it’s what matters most to people stuck in jail. Letters like this: | ||
[[File:Restoring-Justice-Letter-01.png]] | [[File:Restoring-Justice-Letter-01.png]] | ||
===THE SOLUTION:=== | |||
It’s time for us to demand change NOW. | |||
Opportunities now exist to fix this problem immediately. The Harris County Commissioners Court has the authority to regulate the contracts between the Harris County judges and the court-appointed attorneys. They are waiting to take action unnecessarily. We have already provided them all of the reports, research, complaints, articles, statutes, ethical rules, data, and law necessary to act. | |||
The Commissioners Court should veto and reject all court-appointed attorney assignment contracts until and unless the attorneys adhere to well-researched quality and caseload maximum standards. A lot of groups in power have already failed to act (Texas Indigent Defense Commission, newly elected felony judges, Texas State Bar). So it’s important for all of us to unite and make our voices heard to the Harris County Commissioners Court so that indigent defendants receive good legal representation. | |||
Join Restoring Justice, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Fair Defense Project, Community Empowerment Solutions of Texas, Pure Justice, Texas Jail Project, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, BLMHTX, Texas Advocates for Justice, and the Harris County Public Defender's Office in demanding change. | |||
Providing those accused of crimes (legally innocent) with good, not overloaded counsel improves the effectiveness of the entire criminal justice system. It better ensures equality for the accused, justice for the victims, police accountability, and public safety. We won't stop with Harris County - we are continuing this effort to the legislative session of Texas. See the caseload limit bill here! Please join us and build the movement for change now! | |||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
https://www.restoringjustice.org/caseloadlimits | https://www.restoringjustice.org/caseloadlimits | ||
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