Episode No. 78- ODonnell v. Harris County- The Case That Will Not Die- Is The End Finally Coming?
On October 5, 2026, the Honorable Judge Lee Rosenthal issued an memorandum opinion in the ODonnell case. The court was ruling on a motion to dismiss the consent decree that was filed by 4 of the 16 misdemeanor judges.
By way of history, the judges had been arguing for sometime that the consent decree did not comply with SB 6 and more recently did not comply with SB 9 passed by the Texas Legislature in the most recent Texas Legislative Session. Additionally, since the consent decree/settlement agreement was entered, all of the substantive rulings made by the trial court in ODonnell had been reversed by the 5th Circuit. Further, in the Daves II en banc opinion issued by the 5th Circuit, the court of appeals specifically stated that both Daves and ODonnell should never have been adjudicated in federal court.
The trial court issued her opinion because the 5th Circuit issued a writ of mandamus ordering Judge Rosenthal to rule on the motion to dismiss based upon Younger Abstention "expeditiously" well before the upcoming election in November. Also, the court of appeals ordered Judge Rosenthal to follow the Daves II opinion. During the hearing on September 22, 2026, Judge Rosenthal stated multiple times that the court of appeals had ordered her to abstain.
Nevertheless, on October 5, 2026, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss and did not follow the Daves II opinion. The four judges have already filed a notice of appeal. Join us on this episode of The Bail Post as we discuss the history of this case and address the court's ruling.
If you would like to see the trial court's memorandum opinion you can see it at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r-B2gHhNpJxMDHdVE-2FLPDq15jbz2xd/view?usp=sharing
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