10/13/2024
PROPOSALS FOR RADICAL JUDICIAL REFORM
AS JUDGE OF THE 214TH DISTRICT COURT
1. FOCUS ON RESOLVING PETTY POSSESSION CASES WITH REHABILITATION RATHER THAN PUNISHMENT.
Encourage the state to put these defendants in a drug court program, regardless of how many or what types of priors the defendant has. Will create my own drug court, if necessary. The emphasis will be drug treatment and guidance from the court, not punishment.
2. BAIL REFORM
Refuse to enforce the governor’s order on PR Bond restrictions as unconstitutional and unduly burdensome to the defendant and the county.
3. RADICAL TRANSPARENCY IN COURT
Live-stream all court proceedings to the public through YouTube.
4. EQUITABLE ACCESS TO LEGAL RESOURCES
Provide legal representation for low-income individuals facing civil cases, ensuring that everyone has access to justice, facilitating the resolution of cases efficiently and effectively.
5. EMPHASIS ON EARLY RESOLUTION OF CRIMINAL CASES TO FREE UP THE COURT SYSTEM AND THE JAILS.
Develop a system whereby a defendant who has recently been arrested and is ready to admit his or her own guilt and resolve the case, may do so immediately, without waiting for the case to be formally charged through an indictment or the filing of an information, thereby clearing the court’s docket and the jails much more efficiently, saving the taxpayers’ money and the county administrative cost.
6. END THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF PRETRIAL PROBATION FEES.
A defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, a defendant should not be made to pay $60 a month for pre-trial probation, which is an unfair and undue burden to the accused, especially the indigent, which are most of the defendants. Such a requirement discourages compliance with pretrial conditions.
7. DECRIMINALIZE THE PROHIBITION OF DEFENDANTS HAVING COPIES OF THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS DISCOVERY.
Defendants are equal partners with their attorney in their defense. It is crucial that they have access to all the evidence that is against them, and, I believe, constitutional that they do so. In my court, such practice will be allowed, so that, again, cases can be resolved much more efficiently and effectively.
In general, the emphasis will be on ending bureaucratic delays, because as the United States Supreme Court once said, justice delayed is justice denied. Everyone should have a right to a speedy trial, and, by speedy, it should mean immediately, if possible.
