When people accused of crimes cannot afford an attorney, the court appoints one for them—a process known as indigent defense.
The Harris County public defender's office is a relatively new organization, and they can only serve a fraction of the defendants who need it. The remaining cases have defense attorneys who are appointed by the judge. While this system is meant to ensure fair representation, research shows that campaign donations often influence how judges assign cases.
On national public defense day, we are debuting the Harris County Indigent Defense Dashboard. This interactive tool uses information from the Texas Ethics Commission and Harris County District Courts (HCDC) to provide a judge-level view of how judicial campaign donations are related to case assignments and outcomes.
Join a special webinar where we will share new research on the topic and unveil the Harris County Indigent Defense Dashboard,. This interactive tool exposes the relationship between judicial campaign donations, case assignments, and outcomes.
Register for the Free Webinar
📅 March 18, 12-1pm CT
🔍 Featuring: Office of Rodney Ellis, Urban Institute, Texas Center for Justice & Equity, and January Advisors
📊 What you'll learn: Which judges are most likely to appoint cases to their campaign donors
RSVP: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_s7bk8YO2SZC9vjNP4pvaIA
The webinar includes:
- Rodney Ellis, Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1, who inspired the project
- Dr. Karen Johnson, Texas Center for Justice and Equity
- Ammar Khalid, The Urban Institute
- A dashboard overview from Dr. David McClendon, January Advisors
Hosted by Jeff Reichman of January Advisors.
Additional reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/campaign-finance-criminal-justice-judges.html