Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media

U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal is giving Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the opportunity to argue that new state laws could invalidate a first-of-its-kind bail reform in Harris County.

In a recent 35-page opinion about Paxton’s August motion to vacate the ODonnell Consent Decree — which since 2019 has given most misdemeanor defendants the opportunity to be released from jail before trial without first paying cash bail — Rosenthal issued a critical review of the county’s bail practices before the consent decree took effect.

The decree stems from a 2016 class action lawsuit filed by Maranda Lynn ODonnell, who argued that Houston-area defendants charged with low-level crimes were penalized for being unable to afford cash bail. The case found

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