The Texas Organizing Project today announced it is bailing people out of the dangerous conditions in our jails.
“This is a matter of life and death,” said Synnichia McQueen, a TOP leader from Harris County. “We were hoping our elected officials would be able to empty our jails so they wouldn’t become a hotbed for this disease, but it hasn’t happened. We had no choice but to act.”
TOP will focus on bailing out people who have low bonds. These are men and women awaiting trial on misdemeanor and felony charges who if they had a few dollars would be home, not stuck in a jail unable to follow basic CDC guidelines of hand washing and social distancing.
“It’s always been inhumane that we punish people for being poor by forcing them to stay in jail while they await trial,” said Brianna Brown, TOP’s deputy director. “It’s become even more abhorrent now that we are forcing these same people to potentially catch a disease that could kill them.”
TOP is also pushing back against Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to stop the release of certain people on PR bonds.
“Gov. Abbott’s order makes clear that for him it’s all about money,” Michael Sneed, a TOP leader from Dallas County. “If a person has money, they get to go free, without regard to community safety. But if the person is poor, Abbott doesn’t want that person to have the same access to justice.”
TOP will bail out people in Harris, Dallas, Bexar and Fort Bend counties.
“People should be home with their families,” said Michael Roberts, a TOP leader from Bexar County. “None of these people we’re bailing out are eligible for the death penalty, and they shouldn’t get a defacto death sentence just because they don’t have the money to bail out. Everyone has a right to life, dignity and justice.”
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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.
This press release was sent out April 21, 2020.