TEXAS FAIR DEFENSE PROJECT
314 E Highland Mall Blvd 204, Austin, TX 78752 www.fairdefense.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Texas Fair Defense Projects mission is to fight for a criminal justice system that respects the rights of low-income Texans. We envision a new system of justice that is fair, compassionate, and respectful. Through impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and education, we are working to end counterproductive, costly, and unconstitutional practices like jail time for traffic tickets and our broken money-bail system.

Texas Fair Defense Projects mission is to fight for a criminal justice system that respects the rights of low-income Texans. We envision a new system of justice that is fair, compassionate, and respectful.

We at the Texas Fair Defense Project fight to end the criminalization of poverty in Texas. Through litigation, policy advocacy, and community lawyering we aim to disentangle people and communities from the criminal legal system and hold system actors accountable. We are committed to assisting and empowering impacted people and communities, working side by side to dismantle the current system so healthy communities can take hold in its place. Our client population is disproportionately targeted by the criminal legal system simply because they cannot afford access to justice. They cannot afford to hire an attorney in their criminal case, cannot purchase their freedom through cash bail, have had their driver licenses revoked because they could not pay ticket and related debt, or who are held in jail for failing to pay court debt they cannot afford. They are disproportionately people of color, and are caught in a cycle of poverty, debt and criminal justice involvement because they lack the financial resources to break that cycle. In 2019, we had a number of significant policy wins. After years of advocacy with a coalition of organizations, the Texas Legislature finally repealed the Driver Responsibility program, which had suspended more than a million drivers licenses simply because people could not afford to pay their tickets and related surcharges. Upon repeal, more than $2 billion in debt was forgiven. On the local level, we successfully advocated for Travis County to start its first public defender office, obtaining more than $20 million in state funds in a 4-year grant. Also in 2019, we settled historic bail litigation in Harris County, ODonnell et. al. v. Harris County. With co-counsel Civil Rights Corps and Susman Godfrey LLP, we filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of people detained in the Harris County Jail who were being held on misdemeanor charges simply because they could not afford to pay bail. The settlement brought significant changes to Harris Countys misdemeanor system, including automatic pretrial release for the vast majority of people arrested for misdemeanors; individualized bail hearings with defense counsel present for those not eligible for automatic release; and elimination of the personal bond fee. Daves, et. al v. Dallas County was still pending at the end of 2019. TFDP, along with co-counsel Civil Rights Corps, ACLU-TX and ACLU, filed this class action lawsuit in February 2018 on behalf of individuals jailed in Dallas County jail because they could not afford money bail, and Faith in Texas and Texas Organizing Project Education Fund. The district court issued a preliminary injunction in September 2018 requiring bail hearings within 48 hours of arrest with consideration of the defendant's ability to pay bond. The case was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to the above-listed actions, TFDP provided direct representation in over 100 individual cases resolving Class C and related debt and held 10 walk-in legal clinics serving 284 people. This work helped people resolve more than $150,000 in legal debt they could not afford.

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