Claudia Brown, the first African American Female Justice Of The Peace in Bell County, died Tuesday.
Brown, a former social worker and teacher, attracted national attention by setting a billion-dollar bail for a murder suspect back in February 2017 as Bell County Justice Of The Peace.
Reportedly, her intent was to underscore the need for bond reform.
She told KWTX:
“I set it as high as I could to illustrate the fact that it’s ridiculous how we are railroading people without them even having their constitutional rights to a fair trial to determine if they are guilty or innocent,”
She also raised eyebrows when she arraigned her own son after he was arrested for DWI and signed the arrest affidavit to issue a warrant for his arrest.