I overheard a Harris County criminal judge say that Harris County would never adopt the "cite and release" plan approved by the state legislature (and used in Travis County) because the population in Harris County had changed and she didn't think the program would work here.
Because the population changed? And to what population, your Honor, are you referring?
2 comments:
What does it even mean that the program "wouldn't work"? An officer writes a ticket and makes no arrest: That's the whole thing. What's not to "work"?
That just sounds like BS excuse making from somebody who doesn't want to change just from inertia.
Thanks for the comment.
The judge seemed more concerned with the DA's intake process (?) and the size of her docket than she did with the effect that an arrest would have on a citizen.
The process seems to work fine in traffic court and I haven't heard an outcry in Travis County that the program is causing problems.
Ultimately it comes down to the proposition that it's easier to coerce a guilty plea from a person who has no other way of getting out of jail.
That's some justice.
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