Dallas County Setting Bail Despite Ability to Pay Reinstated

Texas’ Dallas County saw its crime-based bail schedule regardless of ability to pay reinstated, for now, after the full Fifth Circuit overturned a judge’s injunction against the practice and ordered a new look.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas relied on the Fifth Circuit’s holding in ODonnell v. Harris County, to issue the injunction, but the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed that panel opinion.

The plaintiffs were indigent arrested criminal suspects, who claimed their civil rights were violated by the county’s “wealth-based” detention system. Included in their suit were the ...