Texas Judge Released Juvenile Inmates After Losing Election

The day after losing his re-election bid, Texas Juvenile Court Judge Glenn Devlin released almost all of the minors who appeared before him in court. Devlin asked the defendants if they were going to kill anybody and released them after they said would not.

"He was releasing everybody," public defender Steven Halpert told the Houston Chronicle. "Apparently he was saying that's what the voters wanted."

Between 10 and 12 kids were released, including four who were facing charges of aggravated robbery.

"I just think this was a post-election weird blip. He made a comment, 'This is obviously what the voters wanted' and I think there's an implication by electing all Democratic judges, there's this belief that Democratic judges are going to be soft on crime," Halpert said when he spoke with KTRK following the unusual number of releases. 

All of the cases will be reheard in January after Devilin's replacement, Natalia Oakes, is seated on the bench. 


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