The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

Multnomah County, Soft on Crime, District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who was voted out of office on Election Day, petitioned an Oregon judge on Monday to reconsider the sentences of eight individuals – which could result in reduced charges and see the convicts freed from prison.     “These have all the appearance of a last-minute giveaway,” Multnomah County District Attorney-elect Nathan Vasquez, the Republican-turned-independent who defeated Schmidt, told the outlet.  “They’re extremely violent individuals who have committed horrible crimes, and they’re being given some kind of a break,” added Vasquez, who starts his term on Jan. 6.  Frank Swopes, Jr. Frank Swopes Jr., who was convicted of felony murder for the death of 75-year-old Jean Stevenson during a December 1993 home invasion, is among the violent offenders Schmidt is seeking to free.  Swopes Jr., 62, went on to commit another violent crime just a week after his accomplice killed Stevenson by pushing he...

Following the death of George Floyd, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus proposed an extensive legislative package that included criminal justice reforms alongside reforms in education, health care and human services, and economic policy.  The bill was referred to as The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, commonly known as the SAFE-T Act. The bill made a number of reforms to the criminal justice system, affecting policing, pretrial detention and bail, sentencing, and corrections.  The Act's section on pretrial detention, which took effect in full on September 18, 2023, is also known as the Pretrial Fairness Act. On this episode on The Bail Post we discuss Illinois and the Safe-T Act. Audio Podcast- Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE Spotify-                        CLICK HERE Google Podcasts-      ...

  Rising Crime- Reality or Mirage? by Ken W. Good By definition, facts typically stand firm and unchallenged.  But lately, there has been a notable disagreement regarding the very existence of certain facts.  During the closing stages of the previous national election, one end of the political spectrum contended that the reported increase in crime was merely a matter of perception, rather than an actual rise.  They asserted that the opposing side had fabricated the issue of rising crime.  Over the past two years, this disagreement has persisted, with one faction rejecting the notion of escalating crime and instead asserting a disparity between public perception and reality. In a recent debate between a representative from Civil Rights Corps and myself, the Corps argued that crime rates were declining, attributing reports to the contrary as a fallacy.  Civil Rights Corps is an activist group behind numerous lawsuits pushing bad bail reforms even as they lose...

  On January 5, 2024, the United States Supreme Court of the United States held a conference on the petition for cert. filed in Daves v. Dallas County .   The petition for cert. raised two issues.  The first was abstention.  The Younger Abstention Doctrine  holds that federal courts should abstain from cases that are pending in state proceedings.  The federal appellate courts have suggested that the federal courts should not  attempt to "micromanage" ongoing criminal cases pending in the state courts.   This argument would seem to apply even more to this litigation.  Once the Fifth Circuit held that judges could not be sued in these types of lawsuits, the analysis should have been even more in favor of not getting involved in this type of litigation.  Since the judges are not proper parties, then why would plaintiffs be allowed to still sue, going around the judges, by suing only the county and the sheriff?  The Fifth Circ...

Anne Marie Schubert is a career prosecutor.  Schubert earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Mary’s College of California in 1986 and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco in 1989. Her career experience includes being the Sacramento County District Attorney, Supervising Deputy District Attorney of the Sacramento District Attorney's Office, and Deputy District Attorney of Contra Costa and Solano Counties. Schubert has been a board member of the National District Attorneys Association and has been affiliated with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and Stand Up for Victims. On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss whether California has  reached a breaking point with rising crime and criminal justice reform.   If you would like to learn more about the letter from the Oakland NAACP (referenced in this episode) demanding action on crime from their local politicians  CLICK HERE . If you would like to learn more about the News Nation townhall mentioned in this episode CLIC...

Over the last few years, reformers have been advocating that changes should be made to the Criminal Justice System on the grounds that bail was not needed; that defendants would go to court anyway.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these policies were used and gave us a preview of what the bail reform movement would look like if the policies were retained after the pandemic.   Jeff Reisig is the Independent District Attorney for Yolo County in California.  Mr. Reisig released two reports looking at recidivism (new crime) rates of defendants released on zero bail in Yolo County.  The first report was issued in August 2022 and found that over 70% of the individuals released on zero bail committed new crimes within 18 months of release. One of the criticisms to this report was that there was no control group of individuals released on surety bail to give any kind of comparison. Therefore, in February 2023, an updated analysis was released adding a comparison o...

Our guest today is the current district clerk of Tarrant County, Texas, Tom Wilder.  Tom took office in 1995 and was re-elected for another 4-year term last November.  He serves on the Tarrant County Information Technology Steering Committee, Justice Executive Planning Committee, Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, E-Gov Committee, and chairs the Tarrant County Bail Bond Board.   Mr. Wilder sits on the Board of Directors for the District Court Alliance and is a member of the County and District Clerks' Association.  He also is an associate member of the Tarrant County Bar Association and sits on the TVAS (Pro Bono) Committee. Prior to being elected District Clerk, he was the owner of the Wilder Company, a Commercial Real Estate Services firm for 25 years.   In 1987, Tom was appointed by Governor Bill Clements as a board member of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, the largest real estate research body in the USA.  He served there for ov...

  Criminal operations which are expanding in complexity often enable retail theft in the United States, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Retail Federation. Organized retail crime, defined by the trade association as theft which occurs through high-level coordination for the goal of reselling stolen items, has increasingly plagued retailers as crime rates increase across the nation. The report asserts that criminal networks are shifting from the resale of goods on third-party online sellers and leaning more upon peer-to-peer platforms. “ORC has a parasitic relationship to the economy and society,” the report said, “and its effects extend beyond direct financial costs to the retail industry and the public sector, as ORC presents potential public health and security risks to consumers and communities.” Rather than seeking to acquire luxury goods, crime networks often coordinate their efforts to steal consumer goods which present ease of theft, monetary value,...

  Patricia Wenskunas is the founder of Crime Survivors (www.crimesurvivors.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing hope and healing to victims and survivors of crime.  Her organization works to ensure that victims and survivors are protected and their rights supported by working closely with law enforcement, the judicial system and the community.  Patricia nearly died in 2002 when she was viciously attacked in her own home by someone she trusted.  A personal trainer, whom she knew and trusted from her local gym, arranged to stop by her condo one day, ostensibly to help her sell Patricia Wenskunasa piece of exercise equipment.  Once there, he rendered her unconscious with a pill that he claimed would help her lose weight.  When Patricia came-to, she found she was undressed, with the trainer on top of her.  While she struggled to get away, the trainer threatened to kill her 12-year-old son, who was not home at the time.  Now enraged, ...

  In January 2023, the Council that governs the District of Columbia unanimously passed a revised criminal code which lowered the criminal penalties for many violent crimes including carjacking.  One report referred to the district as the "District of Crime."  To see more CLICK HERE .  For a defense of the changes  CLICK HERE . The D.C. Mayor vetoed the changes arguing several of the provisions that sought to reduce penalties for some crimes would send “the wrong message” and overwhelm the district’s court system.  To see more CLICK HERE . The D.C. Council overrode the Mayor's veto.   CLICK HERE . Therefore, the new code would go into effect unless it was blocked by Congress. February 9, 2023-  The House of Representatives passed a resolution to overturn the law.  The vote was 250-173 vote, with 31 Democrats joining Republicans.   CLICK HERE .  (This is probably one of the most bi-partisan votes that there has been in the House...

Josh Tetens has been practicing law throughout Central Texas since 2006.   He originally came to Waco in 1997 to attend Baylor University where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree.  Following that, he went to Baylor Law School graduating in 2005.   Josh applied for jobs as a prosecutor but was not able to find a position.  Therefore, he set up his own office and grew as a  criminal defense attorney.   In the most recent campagin season, Josh Tetens was approached to run against the sitting District Attorney.  After a brusing campaign, Josh won the primary by 40 points.  Josh went on to win the general election on November 8th and will take office in January.   On this espisode of The Bail Post we learn about Josh Tetens, his decisision to run for District Attorney, the campaign and the issues he sees facing him as he takes office. Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE...

Equal Justice hosted another debate on the National Issue of Bail Reform.  The guests included Steve Mulroy who is the newly elected district attorney for Sheby County, Tennessee.  Mr. Mulroy would be described as a Soros' supported and funded district attorney who seeks to reform the criminal justice system within.   D.A. Mulroy made the argument in his opening statement that he wondered if bail or bondsmen were even needed anymore. To set out the opposing position, PBT's own Ken W. Good appeared and argued that bail was an integral part of the success of the criminal justice system.  Mr. Good argued that the private industry had the lowest failure to appear rate of any release mechanism by far and it allowed cases to get resolved more quickly.  Without the private industry the delays in resolving cases, either intentionally or unintentionally, placed pressure on the system to dismiss more and more cases which was already present before Mulroy took office ...

  A bail reform group bonding out hundreds of criminal defendants from the Bexar County jail, then paying some of them to do campaign work for candidates, including the district attorney whose office is prosecuting them. Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila obtained a recorded phone call that may show a conflict in the hard-fought race for D.A. On the recording you hear two representatives of a group called Texas Organizing Project, or TOP, talking to a man they think is an inmate they recently bailed out and asking him to do door-to-door canvassing for $20 an hour. Earlier this year we showed you how TOP receives cooperation from Bexar County in bailing out hundreds of inmates from the jail. The bail reform group claims they are low level offenders, but our reports showed they've put repeat offenders with violent histories back on the street. On the recorded phone call, Laquita Garcia, Statewide Policy Coordinator with TOP, and another staffer named Greg Williams, are talking to a man they ...