The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has issued a Public Reprimand to Franklin Bynum, a self-described “Democratic Socialist” who served as a misdemeanor criminal court judge in Harris County from 2019 until 2023.
In the reprimand, the Commission cited various examples of misconduct by Bynum that it determined constituted “willful or persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of his duties and cast public discredit upon the judiciary and the administration of justice.”
Among the violations by Bynum cited by the Commission were, “lending the prestige of his office to advance his private interest in his admitted agenda of extreme criminal justice reform”, “bias in favor of defendants and defense attorneys”, “prejudice towards the Harris County District Attorney’s Office”, “prejudice towards domestic violence victims”, “making adverse public comments regarding pending and impending criminal proceedings which suggested to a reasonable person the judge’s probable decision in any case involving law enforcement officials and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office”, and “conducting extra-judicial activities, such as giving an interview to a magazine, appearing on a local television show, and sharing on social media a picture of himself wearing a “Defund the Chicago Police” t-shirt, that cast reasonable doubt on his capacity to act impartially as a judge and/or would interfere with the proper performance of his judicial duties.”
Bynum was defeated for re-election in the 2022 Democratic primary by Erika Ramirez, who worked as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s office before her election to the bench. Far-left leaders and organizations, such as Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, supported Bynum in his failed re-election campaign.
The criminal justice policies championed by Bynum have the support of organizations such as the Texas Organizing Project, which has spent millions of dollars on political and issues-based mobilization campaigns in recent years.
According to its website, “The mission of [the Texas Organizing Project’s] Right2Justice (R2J) Campaign is to end mass incarceration and the criminalization of poverty of Black and Latino people in four of the largest counties in Texas (Harris, Dallas, Bexar and Fort Bend) by creating a justice system that is fair and just.”
The Texas Organizing Project also operates a fund that bails defendants out of jail. San Antonio television station KSAT reported earlier this year that nearly 30% of the defendants bailed out of jail by the Texas Organizing Project were later re-arrested in the same case, with other defendants being arrested on other charges. KSAT’s report also highlighted the case of a defendant bailed out of jail by the Texas Organizing Project, who later went on a crime spree that included the murder of six people.
The political arm of the Texas Organizing Project has received $850,000 since last year from George Soros, the New York-based activist donor who has been instrumental in the election of liberal prosecutors across the country. Critics of these Soros-funded prosecutors claim they have implemented policies that have emboldened criminals and made their local communities unsafe.
The Texas Voice has previously reported that George Soros and members of his family have spent more than $10.5 million in Texas so far this election cycle.
Sean Teare, who received significant support from the Texas Organizing Project and the Soros-funded Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC, defeated incumbent Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg by a 50-point margin in the Democratic primary earlier this year.
Ogg’s office was responsible for filing complaints against Bynum with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which resulted in his reprimand. The complaints alleged that Bynum had “repeatedly and willfully ignored basic principles of criminal jurisprudence and conducted proceedings in his court with an unprofessional and irredeemable bias against the State of Texas and its prosecutors.”
Bynum has returned to private legal practice and continues to advocate for prison abolition and other criminal justice matters. Earlier this year, Bynum gave a talk entitled “Prison Abolition in Practice.”
“Judge Bynum will present on how to work in the trenches and be abolitionist, or at least remember and not get your brain eaten. He will discuss his perspectives on bail reform in Harris County and how young lawyers can advocate for abolitionist values even from within flawed institutions,” said event organizers.
