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Should judges be more remote from the reach of the law than the president? One would think not.
Bonkers result related to bail reform in CA5, district judges now have sovereign immunity.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/govern...nt-2022-09-30/Still, despite those well-established precedents, and the bedrock underlying principles, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided last Monday that Texas state district judges have immunity from subpoenas in a federal lawsuit against Harris County and its sheriff over its bail system. The opinion was written by Judge Jennifer Elrod and joined by Judge Edith Clement, both of whom are former President George W. Bush appointees, and by Judge Carl Stewart, an appointee of former President Clinton.
The ruling undermines the supremacy of federal law by reinterpreting state sovereignty as a shield that can bar access to evidence necessary to vindicate rights under the federal Cons ution.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, whose offices argued on behalf of the judges, didn’t respond to my questions. A representative of the 5th Circuit told me the judges cannot comment on the ruling.
The underlying lawsuit was filed by several people who were detained in Harris County after being unable to post a cash bond. They’re represented by attorneys from the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Civil Rights Corps and Hogan Lovells.
The 5th Circuit held in an earlier 2018 case that Harris County’s bail system was uncons utional because it favored people who can afford cash bail. But that decision was essentially overruled when a different panel of 5th Circuit judges dismissed a similar suit against Dallas County. That panel held that sovereign immunity bars suits against some officials in that case and that federal courts should sit out the matter until Texas lawmakers iron out the details of proposed legislation to reform bail procedures.
The plaintiffs in the latest ruling dropped the judges from their case after that 2018 decision, deciding instead to simply subpoena them for testimony and do ents.
After that, the 5th Circuit simply extended sovereign immunity again, exempting state officials and en ies not only from lawsuit, but even from basic discovery in federal court.
Should judges be more remote from the reach of the law than the president? One would think not.
No more cash bail in Illinois. It doesn't really make sense that jail release should be dependent upon one's ability to pay.
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