A six-year legal battle over Dallas County’s bail practices ended Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court decision. Daves v. Dallas County was filed in federal district court in 2018 by criminal defendants who argued the county’s pre-trial detention system discriminates against defendants who can’t afford bail, the Texas Tribune reports. A district court judge issued a temporary ordersaying the county’s post-arrest procedures routinely violate the constitutional rights of inmates who can’t afford to pay for release as they await the resolution of their cases. U.S. District Judge David Godbey sided with the plaintiffs’ allegation that the county uses “wealth-based detention” by imposing pre-set bail amounts that often keep poor defendants locked up while wealthier ones go free. Godbey gave the county 30 days to change its system.
On appeal, though, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Supreme Court precedent requires federal courts to abstain from revising state bail bond procedures. The court also said Texas’ new bail laws enacted through 2021’s Senate Bill 6 mooted the lawsuit. Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021, SB 6 banned the release of people accused of violent crimes on personal bonds, requiring that they instead pay cash. The appeals court decision stands and the case is closed because the highest court on Monday said they would not hear the case. Bail is a legal mechanism to ensure that defendants who have not been convicted and are awaiting trial show up to court hearings. Most jurisdictions across the country rely on a money bail system, where defendants can pay a bond amount set by a fixed schedule for their release. Defendants can either pay the full bail amount, which is refundable if they show up for all of their hearings. Or they can pay a nonrefundable percentage — usually 10% — to a bail bond company that pays the total bond amount. If a defendant can’t afford to pay, they are often stuck in jail for weeks or months.
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