Texas Bill Would Lower Penalty for Unlicensed Drivers

Driving with a suspended license is undoubtedly a petty crime, but more than 6,000 Texans were jailed for it in 2017. Texas state lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that would reduce the penalty to a fine.

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Crimewatch: Working to stop sex trafficking

As festival season gets underway in Austin police are warning the public to be on the lookout for suspicious activity that could be linked to sex trafficking.

Read the rest of this article at Fox 7 Austin.

DA to ask for more prosecutors again, citing large-scale case review sparked by botched drug raid

Once again, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is asking for more prosecutors - this time to handle the extra case reviews stemming from the botched Pecan Park drug raid and its fallout.

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Kim Ogg's request for 100 more prosecutors criticized by reformers

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is asking Commissioners Court for 100 new prosecutors to help clear a felony case backlog that was exacerbated by Hurricane Harvey. 

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Harris County DA Says Her Request For More Prosecutors Has Been Politicized

Criminal Justice reform groups have criticized Kim Ogg’s request to hire 102 new lawyers. They argue more people will be jailed, but the DA says her office needs more staff to handle a backlog of cases.

Read the rest of this article at Houston Public Media.

Judicial Election Steers Texas County Toward Bail Reform

A lawsuit challenging the cash bail system in Harris County, Texas, is at an unusual crossroads after 14 Republican municipal court judges named as defendants in the suit — all of whom opposed reforms — were voted out of office this month, a move that likely spells big changes for alleged offenders stuck behind bars because they can't pay their way out.

Read the rest of this article at Law360

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Beto O’Rourke Mobilized So Many Democratic Voters That They Swept Even Local Judges Out of Office

In Harris County, which is home to Houston and the third-largest county in the United States, Democrats unseated 59 Republican judges—including all 23 district judges, all 13 family court judges, all eight county civil judges and probate judges, and all 15 misdemeanor judges. Of the newly appointed Democrats, an unprecedented 19 are black women, significantly changing the face of a judiciary that had been primarily white.

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