By Christina Swarns, Director of Litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. and Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis

Justice delayed is justice denied. For too long, that’s been the case in Harris County, where people languish behind bars for weeks and months awaiting trial for minor, nonviolent misdemeanors because they cannot afford bail. Enough is enough. The time has come for Harris County to leave its wealth-based bail system in the past, take a seat at the settlement table, and fully commit to forward-thinking bail reform.

No clearer message has been sent that the two-tiered system of justice, which unfairly penalizes the poor, minorities, and people with mental illness, must be leveled than the Honorable Judge Lee Rosenthal’s recent decision to grant an injunction halting the county’s practice of denying pre-trial liberty to people charged with petty misdemeanors because they cannot afford bail.

A well-respected Bush appointee, Judge Rosenthal’s ruling makes it clear that our current system violates our constitutional rights to equal protection and due process.

Evidence presented at the injunction hearing exposed an established pattern of Harris County’s failure to safeguard constitutional rights for all people. One result Judge Rosenthal identified is that misdemeanor defendants often plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit rather than languish in jail. This not only undermines the right to fair trial, it contributes to Harris County having the highest rate of exonerations from wrongful convictions nationwide.

These unjust bail practices travel along the same fault lines of social and economic inequality that run through our broader society. The poor, African-Americans and Latinos are more likely to be ensnared in the criminal justice system and bear its disproportionate impacts, which we argued in an amicus brief we filed in this lawsuit. Once again, Judge Rosenthal agreed, finding that, “Misdemeanor pretrial detention is causally related to the snowballing effects of cumulative disadvantage that are especially pronounced and pervasive for those who are indigent and African-American or Latino.”

Our current bail system undermines public safety. Someone accused of a violent crime may be out in hours if they can afford bail, while a single mother with traffic violations who cannot afford costly bail is stuck behind bars to the detriment of her family. In no universe does this make anyone safer. And research shows that when pretrial defendants are separated from their family and community, the risk of recidivism increases. As a result, the county spends millions of dollars to incarcerate defendants who pose little or no threat to the public and have not been convicted of a crime when those dollars could be spent on smart-on-crime prevention strategies and public safety initiatives that work.

Judge Rosenthal’s findings leave no legal ground for the county to continue its costly defense of this indefensible system. Throughout her 193-page ruling, Judge Rosenthal repeatedly finds that Harris County’s expert witness testimonies and legal defense arguments are simply not credible. This does not bode well for an appeal or future trial. Already, $2 million in taxpayer money has been sunk into this endeavor and appealing the case to higher courts will cost even more.

The county’s continued defense of this system shows a blatant disregard for the fundamental constitutional and moral principles that all people, regardless of wealth or race, receive equal justice under the law. The Constitution must work for all people or it works for no one.

This is not a partisan issue. It is a moral issue. It is a fiscal issue. It is a public safety issue. Fundamentally, it is a constitutional issue. Do we truly value a justice system that protects the right to fair treatment, due process, and equal protection guaranteed by our Constitution? To appeal is to answer no. From conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht to former Attorney General Eric Holder, people across the political spectrum are joining the chorus in support of bail reform, sounding a clarion call for justice and demanding our Constitution be upheld.

We can no longer turn a deaf ear to that call. Harris County can no longer maintain a costly, two-tiered justice system that perpetuates discrimination, exacerbates inequality, drains public resources, and harms communities. Rather than continuing to waste time and taxpayer money on appeals, as a majority of Harris County Commissioners chose to do this week, we believe it is time to settle this case. Judge Rosenthal’s ruling outlines both an opportunity and an obligation to fundamentally reform our bail system rather than defend it or haphazardly reform it. Justice demands an end to our current system and requires a new one built on the principles of fairness and equality for all people under the law. It’s time, justice cannot wait.