Legislator, Others Call For County Bail Reform

Criminal justice reform advocates in Harris County called Thursday for an end to money bail for minor crimes because it keeps poor people behind bars before they are convicted. The group - which included state Sen. Rodney Ellis, community leaders Deric Muhammad and Johnny Mata and officials with the Texas Organizing Project - praised a recent federal lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of the county's current system of bail at a press conference on the steps of the criminal courthouse in downtown Houston. "It's necessary to protect the rights of Harris County residents who are kept in a modern day debtor's prison—locked up because they are poor," said Ellis, D-Houston.