Odonnell v. Goodhart

900 F.3d 220
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 14, 2018
DocketNo. 18-20466
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 900 F.3d 220 (Odonnell v. Goodhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Odonnell v. Goodhart, 900 F.3d 220 (5th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

This is a motion for stay pending appeal. We grant the stay.

I.

Plaintiffs brought a class action against Harris County, Texas, and a number of its officials-including County Judges,1 Hearing *222Officers, and the Sheriff (collectively, the "County")2 -under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging the County's system of setting bail for indigent misdemeanor arrestees violates Texas statutory and constitutional law and the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.3

After a hearing, the district court granted Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that they were likely to succeed on their procedural due process and equal protection claims. We affirmed in part and reversed in part. ODonnell I , 892 F.3d at 152-55.4 We remanded for a revised injunction "consistent with this opinion." Id. at 152. That revised injunction was to be "narrowly tailored to cure the constitutional deficiencies the district court properly identified." Id. at 166-67. We provided a model injunction but left "the details to the district court's discretion." Id. at 164.

On remand, the district court adopted the model injunction but added four provisions of its own-Sections 7, 8, 9, and 16. Section 7 applies to all misdemeanor arrestees who (a) are not subject to a formal hold,5 (b) have executed an affidavit of financial condition showing inability to pay, and (c) have not been granted release on unsecured bond. The injunction directs the County to release them if they would have been released had they posted bond. These arrestees must be released within "the same time frame of release" as an arrestee who posted bond, and "[v]erification of references must not delay release." Revised PI § 7, App. 4-5.

In other words, the County cannot hold indigent arrestees for the 48 hours preceding their bail hearing if the same individual would have been released had he been able to post bond. The district court explained that that provision is to prevent those unable to afford bail "from being detained longer than those able to pay secured money bail before receiving a hearing and individual assessment." Id.

*223Except for formal holds, Section 8 requires the County to release, on unsecured personal bond, all misdemeanor arrestees who have not had a hearing and individual assessment within 48 hours. The County may require their return for a hearing but cannot hold arrestees "after the 48th hour after their arrest." Revised PI § 8, App. 6.

The district court justified Section 8 as addressing the concern of "arrestees being detained until case disposition and pleading guilty to secure faster release from pretrial detention." Revised PI Op. at 12, App. 21 (quoting Odonnell I , 892 F.3d at 166 ). Again, such arrestees could be required to return for an individualized hearing but could not be held beyond 48 hours. Id. at 13, App. 22.

Section 9 requires the County to implement procedures to comply with Section 8. Upon release, the arrestee will be subject to the bail amount previously set until his new hearing, but that amount will be imposed on an unsecured basis. In absentia hearings do not satisfy the 48-hour rule.

Section 16 applies the relief to "misdemeanor arrestees who are rearrested on misdemeanor charges only or on warrants for failing to appear while released before trial on bond (either secured or unsecured)." Revised PI § 16, App. 8. The decisionmaker is free to consider these facts at the individual assessment hearing but must provide repeat offenders the same protections, in advance of that hearing, as any other first-time arrestee. Revised PI Op. at 16-17. App. 25-26.

On July 10, 2018, the Fourteen Judges filed this appeal of the preliminary injunction and moved, in the district court, for a stay, pending appeal, of Sections 7, 8, 9, and 16. The district court denied their motion. On July 27, 2018, Fourteen County Judges filed an emergency motion with this court, requesting a stay only of those four sections set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 30, 2018. We issued an emergency stay to allow time for full consideration of the motion, and we heard oral argument on the motion on August 7, 2018. We now grant the motion and enter a stay of Sections 7, 8, 9, and 16 pending plenary resolution of this appeal by a merits panel.

II.

A stay pending appeal "is not a matter of right." Nken v. Holder , 556 U.S. 418, 427, 129 S.Ct. 1749, 173 L.Ed.2d 550 (2009) (quotation marks omitted). We consider

(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of a stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies.

Veasey v. Abbott , 870 F.3d 387, 391 (5th Cir. 2017) (per curiam) (quoting Nken , 556 U.S. at 426, 129 S.Ct. 1749 ). The first two factors are the most critical. Barber v. Bryant , 833 F.3d 510, 511 (5th Cir. 2016).

A.

The Fourteen Judges offer seven reasons why they are likely to succeed on the merits: (1) The revised injunction violates the mandate rule; (2) the revised injunction is overbroad such that it exceeds the limits of a federal court's power; (3) the revised injunction violates Younger v. Harris , 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971) ; (4) the revised injunction violates Preiser v. Rodriguez , 411 U.S. 475

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Bluebook (online)
900 F.3d 220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odonnell-v-goodhart-ca5-2018.