Houston Chronicle by Gabrielle Banks March 29, 2020
COVID-19 breached the walls of the massive Harris County Jail Sunday as local officials continued to squabble over terms of a plan to release inmates to combat spread of coronavirus.
Then Gov. Greg Abbott acted to scuttle the entire effort with an order suspending portions of state law. He forbade the release of violent jail or prison inmates — an action that had no one had proposed — saying it would endanger public safety.
“Releasing dangerous criminals from jails into the streets is not the right solution and doing so is now prohibited by law by this declaration,†Abbott said at a Sunday afternoon briefing, hours after officials announced that a 39-year-old man had tested positive for the coronavirus. The order said such a release “would also hinder efforts to cope with the COVID-19 disaster.â€
The newly appointed monitor over Harris County’s misdemeanor bail protocol, Duke law professor Brandon Garrett, said the decree violated “many state and federal constitutional provisions.â€
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