Judge Absent After Releasing Juveniles Who Pledged Not To Kill

HOUSTON, TX — A juvenile court judge who released a number of accused juvenile offenders after they promised not to kill anyone took the day off Thursday. Harris County Juvenile Judge Glenn Devlin was supposed to be in court, but his court coordinator didn't know where he was or when he planned to return.

An associate judge was brought in to hear the cases on the Thursday docket, officials said.

In light of Devlin's actions, the ACLU of Texas has asked the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate.

“We call on the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to investigate Judge Devlin for violating the canons of judicial conduct,” Sharon Watkins Jones, director of political strategies for the ACLU of Texas said in a statement. “It is improper for a judge to make orders motivated by partisan interests or spite as a result of his political loss.”

Devlin released at least seven juveniles the day after he and a number of other judges lost their bid for re-election in a mass Democratic sweep during an active midterm election.

Some of the juveniles Devlin released were detained for aggravated robbery or other serious crimes, while others were appearing on misdemeanor charges, officials said.

Devlin reset the remaining cases on Wednesday's docket for Jan. 4, 2019, the day after his successor takes the bench in the 313th District Court.

Devlin, who has a reputation as a tough jurist, is one of two Harris County juvenile court judges responsible for sending one in five of all children sentenced to state juvenile detention centers.

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