The following statement is from Laquita Garcia, Statewide Right2Justice Policy Coordinator for Texas Organizing Project (TOP), in response to the 379th District Criminal Court soon ruling on the constitutionality of Gov. Greg Abbot’s Executive Order GA-13:
“Executive Order GA-13 violates Texans’ constitutional rights while worsening mass incarceration in our state. TOP agrees with the Bexar County Public Defender’s office and Sheriff Salazar that this policy is morally wrong and does not have legal standing.
“It is our hope that Judge Ron Rangel does right by Texans in his ruling and sees this executive order as a dangerous expansion of wealth-based pretrial detention, a system that has already been deemed unconstitutional by federal judges in our state.”
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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Bexar, Dallas and Harris counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.
This statement was sent out June 24, 2021.