Grits for Breakfast 4/11/2020
Judge ruled Abbott exceeded his authority on executive order limiting personal bonds, but the fight's not over
UPDATE: The Supreme Court of Texas on Saturday issued a temporary stay on Judge Livingston's Temporary Restraining Order, meaning Abbott's order for now is back in effect. The court has requested briefings on the subject, with responses from the litigants due on Monday. See coverage from the Texas Tribune.
ORIGINAL POST: Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton took one on the chin yesterday when Travis County District Judge Lora Livingston issued a Temporary Restraining Order barring enforcement of the governor's executive order barring jail releases of people with current charges or past convictions involving violent offenses. See initial coverage from the Austin Statesman, and briefs from the plaintiffs and Abbott/Paxton's attorneys.
At another hearing scheduled for April 24, Judge Livingston will decide whether to turn the TRO into a full-blown injunction, if the Supreme Court of Texas doesn't beat her to the punch (see below). Here's Judge Livingston's letter explaining her decision.
Grits considered the executive order a barely disguised attack on bail reform efforts in Harris County and a warning shot aimed at other jurisdictions that might follow their lead. There was no obvious link between the order and protecting people from the coronavirus, and in fact, it increased risk of infections in Texas county jails. So I was glad to see Livingston's decision, though I also understand this is only the first step down a longer path.
Though I'm not a lawyer, when I read the government's response to the petition from the ACLU of Texas, the Fair Defense Project, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, I suspected they would lose on the merits. Frankly, they didn't address most of the plaintiffs' arguments directly, sidestepping them with sweeping overstatements and absurd attacks that, if taken to their logical conclusion, would make Governor Abbott essentially an un-accountable dictator whenever he decided to declare a disaster.
In their brief, Abbott's lawyers accused judges of "misusing" their authority to grant personal bonds, but in the hearing yesterday, they could not identify a single example of such misuse, despite Livingston repeatedly pressing lead counsel Adam Biggs on the point. Not. A. Single. One.
More:
https://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2020/04/judge-ruled-abbott-exceeded-his.html
