Posted on 11/18/2006 8:13:39 PM PST by Snickering Hound
In an unprecedented transparent attempt to severely limit the right to peaceful protest and freedom of speech of low-wage Houston janitors and their supporters, a Harris County District Attorney has set an extraordinarily high bond of $888,888 cash for each of the 44 peaceful protestors arrested last night. Houston janitors and their supporters, many of them janitors from other cities, were participating in an act of non-violent civil disobedience, protesting in the intersection of Travis at Capitol when they were arrested in downtown Houston Thursday night. They were challenging Houston's real estate industry to settle the janitors' strike and agree on a contract that provides the 5,300 janitors in Houston with higher wages and affordable health insurance.
The combined $39.1 million bond for the workers and their supporters is far and above the normal amount of bail set for people accused of even violent crimes in Harris County. While each of the non-violent protestors is being held on $888,888 bail ...
* For a woman charged with beating her granddaughter to death with a sledgehammer, bail was set at $100,000;
* For a woman accused of disconnecting her quadriplegic mother's breathing machine, bail was set at $30,000;
* For a man charged with murder for stabbing another man to death in a bar brawl, bail was set at $30,000;
* For janitors and protesters charged with Class B misdemeanors for past non-violent protests, standard bail has been set at $500 each.
More than 5,300 Houston janitors are paid $20 a day with no health insurance, among the lowest wages and benefits of any workers in America.
Community activists and leaders expressed concern and dismay today at the police's use of horses to intimidate and corral janitors participating in the non-violent civil disobedience Thursday night in downtown Houston. The police's choice to use horses to stop the protest resulted in four people being injured, including an 83-year old female janitor from New York.
In a statement released today prior to the bonds being set, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee said, "A protest is a sign of freedom in the United States and exercises our basic rights to free speech."
Photos and video shot by people in the crowd during the incident are available on http://www.houstonjanitors.org/
More than 1,700 SEIU janitors in Houston have been on strike since October 23 over civil rights abuses and a failure to bargain in good faith by their employers, the five national cleaning companies ABM, OneSource, GCA, Sanitors, and Pritchard.
With five of the most influential players in Houston's commercial real estate industry refusing to intervene in the dispute, the workers' strike against five national cleaning firms is increasing in scope and intensity. In the highly competitive market of contract cleaning, it the building landlords that hire the cleaning firms that negotiate and set rates for janitors' wages and benefits. These five major landlords, Hines, Transwestern, Crescent, Brookfield Properties, and the oil giant Chevron, have the power to settle the strike by directing the cleaning contractors they hire to provide higher wages and health insurance all workers need to support their families.
In every city, the janitors work for many of the same national cleaning firms in buildings owned by the same national commercial landlords. But, while janitors in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and other cities make more than $10 an hour, have health insurance and full-time work, Houston workers are paid an average of $20 a day, with no health insurance for part-time work.
Last fall, 5,300 Houston janitors made the historic choice to form a union with SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Their decision capped one of the largest successful organizing drives by private sector workers ever in the Southern half of the United States. Since forming a union with SEIU, Houston janitors have been seeking a raise to $8.50/hour, more hours, and health insurance in a citywide union contract. For more info, visit houstonjanitors.org
More than 225,000 janitors in 29 cities are members of SEIU.
"but until then the US citizens are assummed innocent."
I'm Sure...
While I agree that the bail is certainly dispraportionate for said incident (basing this on a one-sided news story) still there has to be a serious penalty for blocking traffic.
The fact is that blocking traffic hinders emergency/law enforcement personnel from getting to their needed destinations. This may be seen by some as an excuse but the reality is that someone's life could be lost because these idiots didn't stay on the sidelines.
This DA is nothing but a hack.
I'll take your word for it.
In regards to this story there are really just two questions:
1 - Is the bail excessive? I would say yes.
2 - What would be the appropriate bail be that is proportionate to the crime, a crime that literally endangers those people's lives where emergency/law enforcement personnel cannot get to their needed destinations?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The bail is excessive. Period.
"...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble..."
I agree the bail is too high but blocking streets is not peaceably assembling - it is public endangerment.
For crying out loud, sitting down in the middle of the street of downtown Houston at rush hour is just asking to be hit by regular motorists' cars.
Mounted cops *had* to go in there to thwart a major disaster in the making. "Baiting" cars to hit you is just outrageous.
The people I saw interviewed were quite proud of being arrested--they said that was what they were here for.
The bail has to be that, because the union will just keep paying whatever amount over and over and these people will just go back out there until someone gets killed accidentally by an ordinary citizen's car.
They have been doing this all over town for almost a month. There has to be a better way than daring people to hurt you so you can sue them. When I saw a few days ago that they had brought in the 83-yo woman, it was obvious what they were trying to do - martyr somebody.
Sorry, this stinks. Bail sounds about right to me. There are a whole lot of them and they endanger all of us.
Although I will stand by my assertion that the bail is excessive if you look at my other posts I make it clear that I believe that their offenses are very serious because they endanger the public.
I don't know what the amount should be but let me make it clear - it should be high enough so that these union thugs think 100 times before they do this agin.
I really think we are on the same wavelength here.
Civil disobedience is, well.....civil disobedience and it's AGAINST THE LAW! I'm sure the marches around the country where illegals demanded equal rights are still on the mind of most Americans. This little act of civil disobedience no doubt reminded the officials of what we all saw where millions of them took to the streets. The law is the law, and when people break the law, they go to jail and ultimately end up before a judge. He sets the bail for what he deems appropriate for the crime. Too bad if they don't like it.
We *are* and I also wanted to make the point clear how I feel about the bail and why. None of the other accused suspects that were used for comparison have deep pockets paying their way out, that I know of.
Anyway, the janitors' stunts have gotten them another sit-down (at the table!) to negotiate with the companies, so maybe it will end soon.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Are you implying the religion of unionism has been trod upon?These out of town thugs have been disrupting downtown Houston for several weeks now. To hell with their gripes with the company, they overstepped their rights.
I call bullsh**.
L
"The last thing you should do when picketing is stop traffic. Any sympathy or goodwill you might have amongst people commuting is lost forever. If you want to picket, do so on that nice sidewalk over there and stay the hell out of the streets."
I remember on first job in Los Angeles (Westwood) these people would stop traffic on Wilshire for hours. It was terrible - a mob of illegals carrying "Justice for Janitors" signs.
They don't have the right to stand in the middle of a busy street and do it. If I did that, I'd be killed. That's why it's against the law.
They're also among the the least skilled and least educated workers in America. Losers.
" it should be high enough so that these union thugs think 100 times before they do this agin. "
Ummm....
"Bail" is NOT a fine -- it is NOT punishment.
Bail is a refundable deposit which is sufficient to ensure that people who are set free pending adjudication will appear at trial.
Thus, bail has very little to do with the crime, and very much to do with factors such as ties to the community and ability/demonstrated willingness to flee the jurisdiction.
Whether or not I agree with their cause or their tactics, the bail, as set, seems reasonable for out-of-town professional demonstrators....
JMO
I think it's apparent that the Harris Co. DA's message is that he knows the well-heeled unions are behind the protests, so they can pony up the cash bail and think twice about where they're going to take their rent-a-mob next time. If the unions don't put up the cash for the bail, they will find themselves with no protesters. They're going to have to pay to play that game.......and keep the bailee on a short leash to make sure he shows up in court so that the bail is exonerated.
It's a rent-a-mob funded by the union. The bail is "union scale", lol! The union can afford it. Now, let's see if they put up or shut up.
Bail amounts aren't just set in accordance with the crime committed. Other factors considered include setting an amount sufficient to make the defendant show up. If they aren't members of the community and their identification and citizenship status are in question, the bail amount set is probably appropriate for the union to post. If they don't like it, they may think twice about staging the same dog-and-pony show again.
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