The Bail Post

Our guest on this episode of The Bail Post is the sitting district attorney for Harris County- Kim Ogg.  D.A. Ogg was first elected to become district attorney in 2016 with the support of a Soros political group.  She was re-elected in 2020 without the support of a Soros political group.

D.A. Ogg was present for all the inside political discussions for criminal justice reform/bail reform in Harris County.  D.A. Ogg initially supported the reforms, but once she concluded that the proposed reforms went too far, she opposed them.

On this episode of The Bail Post D.A. Ogg tells all.  Join us and see if you come to the same conclusion that we did-  Wow!

This is the second of two episodes regarding Charitable Bail Funds.  The first part was episode number 5 of The Bail Post.  On this episode on The Bail Post we highlight what states have done since Texas enacted a bill requiring transparency for Charitable Bail Funds.  The state of Indiana limited these funds so that they could not post a bond over a certain size.  Also, recently, the state of Georgia passed a bill limiting these funds from posting no more than 3 bonds in a given period of time whether that be six months or a year.  Why are states placing restrictions on these funds?  Probably because the legislatures are listening to the states from the representatives of some of these funds which state that they want to create chaos in the Criminal Justice System.  Therefore, legislatures are taking them at their word and placing restrictions on them to prevent chaos.  

Retired Chief Patrick Jordan worked for the L.A. County Sheriff's office for over 30 years.  He has intimate knowledge regarding  the California Criminal Justice System the reforms that have been pushed for years.  He talks about the litigation that began attacking the State's failure to provide proper mental health care and medical care which lead to a three judge panel placing a cap on the State's prison population.  The cases went all the way to the United States Supreme Court where Justice Alito questioned any order that would require the State to release the equivalent of three divisions of convicted criminals.  Alito predicted the action would lead to more crime.  Chief Jordan highlights the changes that have been made since and how those actions were not intended to do anything but reduce the number of people in jail even if crime increased.  Chief Jordan also provides insights into district attorneys who were supported by George Soros' groups.  Join us on this Episode of The Bail Post.  The arguments made in California yesterday, may be the arguments made in your jurisdiction tomorrow.

Jim Quinn is a former assistant district attorney in Queens, New York.  His family has lived in New York for four generations.  Jim was on the front lines as New York slipped bail reform into the budget bill in 2019 and when it went into effect in January 2020.  Jim has written numerous articles about the New York bail reform and its impact on crime.  On this episode of The Bail Post we evaluate the reforms and their impact on recidivism.  The biggest take away from this episode is that the politicians stated that they were willing to have more crime to address their political agenda.  Four years later, we can say that they got exactly that.  Crime is up 40% since before the reforms were enacted and defendants with a prior arrest are committing new crimes at record numbers.  Recidivism rates demonstrate that a known group of people are committing a large percentage of crimes and the citizens are bearing the brunt of politicians who refuse to fix the problems that they themselves created.

On this episode of The Bail Post we talk about the current theories regarding the causes of crime and how to deter it.  Our guest is Dr. Jennifer Wooldridge.  She is an associate professor of Criminal Justice and the Criminal Justice Undergraduate Coordinator at UT Tyler.  

Domestic Violence Survivors are one of the unknown stories of Bail Reform Failures.  As catch and release policies or arrest and release policies are being used more in our urban areas, one of the areas of society that is being most hit is in the area of domestic violence.  In many places, survivors cannot rely upon the criminal justice system any longer to protect them; and instead, they have to plan their escape plan with the help of volunteers across the country.  Join us on this episode of the Bail Post with Guest Angeline Constantinou as we talk about this very important issue.

The United States Supreme Court denied the petition for cert. filed by the plaintiffs in Daves v. Dallas County in January.  In February, the United States Supreme Court filed another petition for cert. filed in Little v. Doguet from Louisiana on a similar issue.  Therefore, the Daves v. Dallas County case has finally been concluded.  On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss the legacy of this case and the other important case called ODonnell v. Harris County.  

J.E. "Eddie" Guerra is the Sheriff of Hidalgo servicing around 1 million people.  Sheriff Guerra was appointed to office after his predecessor resigned as a result of scandal.  Sheriff Guerra rebuilt trust with the public and was reelected multiple times by the voters.  Sheriff Guerra talks about the steps he took to rebuild trust with the public.

Hidalgo County is a border county with Mexico.  As a result, Sheriff Guerra deals with all the things that a sheriff has to deal with and then on top of that he deals with border issues as well.

Sheriff Guerra has won many awards.  He is known for sharing data with many different agencies and says that he does not care who gets credit for getting the arrest.  By all metrics, crime in Hidalgo County has gone down in Hidalgo County.

Join us for this episode of The Bail Post as we talk to Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra.

On this episode of The Bail Post, we reach several milestones.  First, this is episode number 50.  Second this is the start of Season 3 of the Bail Post.

On Season 1, the first episode focused on what bondsmen do.  On Season 2, the first episode highlighted why the private industry was so much more successful than any other release mechanism.

For Season 3, the first episode focuses on what it is that PBT does for the bondsmen of Texas.  Our guest is the new president of PBT, Irma Montemayor.  She talks about what it takes to run one of the best and most effective bail associations in the United States.  She also highlights the work that PBT engages in at the Texas Legislature.

There is also a discussion regarding how PBT raises funds to be able to be active at the legislature.  Ms. Montemayor highlights the importance of PBT's continuing education class.

Also, there was a discussion regarding the partnerships that PBT enters into with surety companies to provide additional funds to defend the bail industry to get their story out.  The current partners include:  AIA, American Surety, Bankers, Financial Casualty & Surety, and Lexington National.  Ms. Montemayor challenged agents of sureties not on this list to contact their insurance company to find out why they were not partnering with PBT to defend their businesses.

Join us on The Bail Post as we start Season 3.

On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss Russell v. Harris County.  This case was filed to extend the ruling in ODonnell regarding misdemeanor judges issued by the Honorable Lee Rosenthal to the felony judges.

When the case was originally filed, the plaintiffs did not even sue the district court judges.  Suit was filed against Harris County and the Harris County Sheriff.  Next, the case was "stayed" or put on hold to allow the parties to attempt to work out a settlement. 

The case did not proceed as expected by the plaintiffs.  They were expecting a quick settlement where the county gave them everything they wanted like they did in ODonnell.  

What the plaintiffs received in the end was a big fat dismissal.  Find out how this happened on this episode of The Bail Post.