Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Grits for Breakfast

Criminal Law

: Grits for Breakfast

Foundation report criticizes Harris County DA for unnecessary detention, prosecution of juveniles

With a District Attorney's GOP runoff in full swing, here's an issue I hope both candidates address before Harris County voters go back to the polls -Decision making in Texas' largest county about juvenile cases is haphazard and ill-focused, with frequent misdemeanor referrals by the District Attorney's office clogging the system with low-level cases that detract from more serious offenders, according to a new study by the Annie Casey Foundation. Reported Bill Murphy at the Houston Chronicle ("Report criticizes Harris County juvenile facilities," March 24): Local judges, probation employees and others are operating under a patchwork of sometimes quirky standards for deciding which youths get sent to Harris County's crowded juvenile detention facilities, according to a new study...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).