The Meaning of America

The Need to Remedy the Long-Term Wrong of Harris County’s Vile Plea Mill

For many years, Harris County courts systematically denied pr bonds. As a result, indigent misdemeanor defendants were given the Hobson’s Choice of pleading not guilty and remaining in jail or pleading guilty and getting out of jail. Many defendants likely pleaded guilty, not because they were guilty, but because pleading guilty was their quickest way to get out of jail.  The resulting plea mill moved the court’s docket. The plea mill also likely ended up causing many indigent defendants to end up with misdemeanor convictions for crimes they did not commit.

These misdemeanor convictions stain poor people with undeserved criminal records; records that impede indigent defendants’ ability to get decent employment.

I wonder if the Harris County judiciary would consider giving some thought to remedying this wrong? In my opinion, as the former judiciary was primarily responsible for the resulting injustice, the current judiciary would be right to take the lead in undoing the wrong caused mainly by their predecessor’s policies.

Working with the Pd, couldn’t the judiciary set up a special court that created an avenue to overturn Plea Mill convictions, where someone could prove their actual innocence???

I don’t know the legal mechanism.

I do know this historic wrong, which likely plagues the lives of many thousands of Harris County residents, has never been remedied, and it needs to be.

Robert J. Fickman
Attorney at Law