AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis County now faces a class action lawsuit for allegedly denying people the right to legal counsel.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU), the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of people jailed without lawyers in Travis County.
“There aren’t attorneys that are appointed to represent people at these first hearings.”
Savannah Kumar, ACLU of Texas Staff Attorney
ACLU of Texas Staff Attorney Savannah Kumar said the county requires arrestees to attend their first criminal court appearance without giving them the right to a lawyer for those who cannot afford one.
She said at that time judges can question people about facts related to their alleged crime.
“Do you know this person who is the complaining witness in this case? How do you know them? What’s your relationship? Or details about where the person was at a particular time,” Kumar said.
The ACLU said those statements could be used against someone later in their case. However, criminal defense attorney Benjamin Gergen said he’s never seen that happen.
“I think most judges, at least in this county, are fair enough to realize that that’s a statement they probably shouldn’t let in to any sort of trial.”
Benjamin Gergen, Criminal Defense Attorney
Gergen said usually a defendant is just asked if they can afford counsel or if they’d like one provided for them.
“Then you’re reading the defendant the charge and telling them, ‘Hey, this is what your bond conditions are,'” Gergen said.
Gergen also said within 24 hours of that initial court appearance, most people are released from jail on a personal bond.
“Most of those people aren’t even hiring attorneys,” Gergen said. “So you’re getting out of jail, literally for free, without having to put any skin in the game financially.”
Still, Kumar said the ACLU wants to make sure people have that representation from the very beginning.
“These hearings can be really confusing for people who are coming out of a vulnerable situation into these hearings,” Kumar said.
KXAN has reached out to the county. We will update this article when we get a response.
Who is the plaintiff?
The ACLU of Texas described the plaintiff as a man in his late 30s who experiences homelessness. They said he was arrested on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
“He requested a court-appointed lawyer, but at the time of filing our lawsuit, one had not been appointed and he remains locked up under a pretrial detention order issued against him, without counsel, at his first appearance,” the release said.
The organization said its client wants to represent a plaintiff class of all similarly situated detained people at Travis County Jail.
