The Bail Post
What do we know about criminal justice reforms or bail reform? How do we evaluate whether reforms are helping or making the situation worse? How can we take politics out of criminal justice and focus on public safety? The Bail Post seeks to be a place where legislators and the public can educate themselves on a host of criminal justice/bail reform issues. With various attempts at criminal justice reform from New York to Texas to California, many people are confused as to what is working and what is not. With the passage of time, more and more data is coming to light over what successful reform looks like and what reforms have been found to not be working. The rise in violent crime across the country has been startling and law makers and the public alike are desperate to find legislation that is effective. Some might ask whether some of the reforms making the situation worse? The Bail Post is an on-going discussion that seeks to cut to the core to provide education on the various issues raised and to highlight what successful criminal justice reform looks like and what measures have been disastrous. Join us and educate yourself about the best practices that jurisdictions must implement to keep their communities safe, while ensuring fairness to defendants. As a someone said recently "Public safety is the foundation of a society. Without public safety we do not have a society."
If you would like to listen other episodes of The Bail Post you can find a subject matter index of the different episodes at- https://pbtx.blogspot.com/p/subject-index-to-bail-post-podcasts.html.
The host is Ken W. Good; an attorney in Tyler, Texas who has been licensed for over 30 years. He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Good has written a book on bail called "Goods On Bail." He has also has had numerous papers published on Criminal Justice Reform issues. Mr. Good is a board member of PBT and serves on the legislative committee. Mr. Good is married and has two daughters.
The Bail Post
Episode No. 12- Setting Bail With The Honorable Ralph Strother
The Honorable Ralph Strother retired from the 19th District Court in Waco, McClennan County, Texas. He was on the bench for 22 years where he tried many high profile criminal cases. He was appointed to the bench by then Governor George Bush.
In this episode of the Bail Post, Judge Strother talks about his incredible career, his family and his insights for addressing increasing case backlogs, setting bail and bail reform. Judge Strother has great insights about the process of setting bail. As we see judges in Harris County denying that they are responsible for setting bail and blaming rising crime on the district attorney, it is refreshing to listen to a retired district court judge talk straight that the judges have the responsibility under Texas law to set bail and to continue to oversee the bond after the defendant is released on bail.
According to Judge Strother, if a judge believes that the defendant's current bond is not sufficient to ensure appearance, that the defendant is complying with the conditions on the bond or that public safety is at risk, the judge has the ability and the duty to revoke the bond, hold the bond insufficient or to raise the bond.