I don't normally write about the same thing twice in a row, but I think I will due to ABC's "breaking news" trumpeting a win in the Harris County case. So I have two things I want to direct right at ABC.
First, ABC, I know you all think you've pulled one over on the people on our side. Yeah, I know, you argued for the analysis under the 8th Amendment, and you ended up with a revised remedy (that may or may not resemble the full injunction) that kind of looks like that. Well, we ain't fooled. We know all about what the law is, and you won't win -- especially if you start focusing on the state right to bail (you know, the state-created liberty interest). Even your own attorneys knew the limits presented by the state right to bail, so you're definitely history on that one.
Second, ABC, for the benefit of the people who rely on you to tell them the truth (including those insurance dudes who seem bamboozled by the legal talk), did you forget to mention to them all the things you argued that ended up getting slammed by the Fifth Circuit? Sure, now you say, "All we ever wanted was a little procedural due process," but that's not what you argued. Nope. You argued there wasn't even an equal protection or due process claim, only an 8th Amendment claim, and that got slammed. You argued that Younger abstention applied, and that got slammed. You argued for rational basis scrutiny, and that got slammed, too. You argued that all the factual findings (including the trial judge's factual findings that all those wonderful studies you send out to bail agents everywhere were "not credible) were wrong, too, but the Fifth Circuit specifically upheld them. That's a big deal because it's those facts through which you lose a substantive due process or equal protection claim. You gotta know that, right?
Face it. You only said you were for procedural due process once you realized you'd lose on substantive due process and EP. Oh, and I'm teaching people how to beat you on an 8th Amendment claim, so get ready for those, too. Plus, what you're advocating for is a clear violation of virtually every state's right to bail provision, so watch out for that claim as well. Violating the state right to bail provision is what changed New Mexico. Now I realize that New Mexico is sort of a sore subject with you because you were lost through that whole thing. Well, take my word for it. Justice Daniels said judges had to follow the right to bail provision in the constitution, and that directive ended up decimating the commercial bail industry within just a couple of years. Bottom line -- when you stop allowing purposeful detention using money, you don't need money any more for anything else.
When it comes to substantive due process, the claim wasn't even brought. One of these days, though, someone will bring it, and you'll see the end of money bail in quick and decisive fashion. What was brought was procedural due process (which you now apparently like even though 8th Amendment analysis wouldn't have given any), and equal protection. And equal protection is where you really lost. The Fifth Circuit specifically upheld the EP claim, and that's going to ultimately lead to mass release without money. Remember, if you decide two people are treated differently because one has money and one doesn't, the remedy isn't to somehow allow money to keep one in and let another out.
Bottom line, ABC, you argued that Harris County's existing practices didn't violate the constitution, and the Fifth Circuit said they did. Remember your brief in the district court? You said Harris County's current system "far exceeds federal constitutional demands" and that "there is no escaping that the County's bail system is constitutional." You couldn't have been more wrong.
The people on my side know you'll try to settle. But my side shouldn't settle because we'll win everything the more we press on. You're only claiming a win now so that if you settle the people who pay your bills will be fooled into thinking they're not throwing their money away.
Get used to it. The Fifth Circuit opinion found clear violations of EP and procedural DP, and that should worry you because every county in America sets bail like Harris County. It's the beginning of the end of money bail in America, and you can't hide that from your insurance bosses.
You once bragged that having Paul Clement write up your brief was the next best thing to having the Supreme Court itself explaining things. Oops. Maybe not. Money can buy a lot, but it can't buy arguments that work in the federal courts.
