On April 8, 2018, a prisoner in Galveston County Jail filed this class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The case was assigned to Judge George C. Hanks, Jr. Represented by the ACLU of Texas and private counsel, the plaintiffs sued Galveston County and various ...
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On April 8, 2018, a prisoner in Galveston County Jail filed this class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The case was assigned to Judge George C. Hanks, Jr. Represented by the ACLU of Texas and private counsel, the plaintiffs sued Galveston County and various Galveston County officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiff alleged that Galveston County’s bail policies, especially the practice of setting a high minimum bail and failing to appoint defense counsel for arrestees’ bail hearings, favored wealthy arrestees over poorer arrestees and violated poor arrestees’ rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief.
On the same day the initial complaint was filed, the plaintiff filed for class certification. The putative class would encompass all people who are or will be detained in Galveston County Jail because they are unable to pay secured bail set at magistration.
The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on May 4, 2018, to join a second prisoner as a named plaintiff. The same day, the plaintiffs also filed an amended motion for class certification to reflect the added plaintiff.
The case is ongoing. As of June 2018, the defendants have yet to respond to the plaintiffs’ amended complaint.
Rebecca Strauss - 06/07/2018
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