ACLU files federal lawsuit over Texas bail system News
ACLU files federal lawsuit over Texas bail system

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Texas [advocacy websites] and Arnold & Porter filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Sunday in federal district court challenging the Galveston County Jail’s policy of releasing those arrested for felonies and misdemeanors who can afford to pay the cash bail and detaining those who cannot.

According to the complaint, “[t]he County sets these payment amounts without any meaningful hearing.”

The plaintiff, Aaron Booth, is currently detained in the Galveston County Jail because he is unable to pay his bail. The complaint alleges that Booth had no attorney when the bail was set, he was not asked if he could afford bail and he had no chance to explain his inability to pay.

The ACLU of Texas said [press release] that the bail setting was “arbitrary.” Trisha Trigilio, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said, “[a] system that requires people to buy their freedom is not a system interested in dispensing justice.” She went on to say, “[r]ich or poor, everyone should have a meaningful chance for a judge to hear them out before they are locked in a jail cell—but that’s not what’s happening in Galveston County.”

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.