Pot cases down, confusion up after pot law change KTRK
Replay Video UP NEXT
When he took the bench in 2019, the seats in Harris County Court at Law Judge Franklin Bynum s misdemeanor courtroom used to be filled with people trying to fight possession of marijuana cases.
Now, nearly two years after a change to Texas agriculture laws made it legal for farmers to grow hemp, Bynum s court rarely sees those cases. Marijuana is still illegal in Texas, but the law made it harder, more expensive and more labor-intensive for investigators to differentiate between the illegal drug and legal hemp.
13 Investigates analyzed pot possession cases in Harris County and the surrounding area starting a year before the law changed. We compared it with the 19 months after the law changed.
Close icon
Two crossed lines that form an X . It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. Dr. Hasan Gokal. Courtesy of David Oates/PR Security
Dr. Hasan Gokal was fired after giving away 10 COVID-19 vaccine doses that were due to expire.
Gokal said he spent six hours trying to find people who wanted the shot.
The Houston DA s office later charged him with theft.
On December 29, Dr. Hasan Gokal was getting ready to wrap up the first day of Houston s COVID-19 vaccination drive when one last person drove up for a dose before the site was set to close.
Skip to main content
Harris County got rid of cash bail for minor crimes. GOP lawmakers want to walk that back.
March 6, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Recent reforms that let more people accused of minor offenses be released without posting cash bonds appear to be working, new research shows. But Houston area lawmakers want to roll them back.Kathy Willens, STF / Associated Press
Eager to resolve a federal civil rights lawsuit, Texas most populous county over the past two years has stopped requiring most people accused of low-level crimes from putting up cash to get out of jail on bond.
Tens of thousands of people accused of misdemeanors not involving some specific circumstances, like domestic abuse or previous bond violations, have been freed without cost while awaiting trial.
Harris County s bail reforms were put into place after federal courts rejected its largely cash-based system as unconstitutional. Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Eager to resolve a federal civil rights lawsuit, Texas most populous county over the past two years has stopped requiring most people accused of low-level crimes from putting up cash to get out of jail on bond.
Tens of thousands of people accused of misdemeanors not involving some specific circumstances, like domestic abuse or previous bond violations, have been freed without cost while awaiting trial.