Criminal Justice in the age of climate change
The Outlet
By. Molly Taft
AUG—01—2019 12:10PM EST
This piece was produced in partnership with Nexus Media News.
The Harris County Criminal Justice Center, which sits a block away from the Buffalo Bayou, acts as a central nervous system for criminal justice proceedings in the country’s third-largest county. Harvey hit the courthouse with a one-two punch, as four feet of floodwater damaged the lower levels and increased water pressure burst pipes on higher floors... When a courthouse that serves 4.5 million people is damaged, an already backed-up legal system gets even more inefficient. The city was forced to close the building after water damage knocked out 40 courtrooms on the center’s 20 floors. Jury trials were delayed as the district scrambled to find spaces to hold court. Most hearings in subsequent months took place in the crowded jail basement, where prosecutors, defenders and their clients were forced into close quarters in the limited space available...In April, The Houston Chronicle profiled some of the county’s 25 longest-jailed inmates awaiting trial, who have collectively served 107 years in jail. Keith Allen Smith, who was accused in 2015 of murder, couldn’t afford the $90,000 bail set in his case and was only acquitted this year after serving nearly four years in the Harris County Jail. His lawyer cited damage from Hurricane Harvey as one of the “key reasons” Smith’s trial date kept being postponed
...“If you don't consider the fact that the past climate is no longer a guide for the future, you risk making investments that are not going to pay back,” said Richard Moss, a climate scientist at the University of Maryland and one of the lead authors of the recent National Climate Assessment. “At worst, you risk making investments that could put people's health and safety at risk.”
If Texas is to learn any lessons from Harvey, it will be without any guidance from the governor’s office. A commission convened by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott released a 200-page report in December suggesting the state needs to “future-proof” itself due to "changing environmental and human conditions." The report made no direct mention of climate change, curbing emissions or moving to renewable energy. "I’m not a scientist," Abbott told reporters at the report’s rollout when asked whether he thought climate change was behind Harvey and projected future disasters. "Impossible for me to answer that question." In May, bills meant to mandate studies of how climate change will impact Texas died in the state Legislature.
A long read but worth it. Much more here
https://theoutline.com/post/7738/hurricane-harvey-houston-climate-change-harris-county-criminal-justice-center