LOUISVILLE, Ky. — During the first weekend of racial injustice protests in downtown Louisville, many people were arrested and sucked into our judicial system. Many who were arrested on those first nights were held longer than normal and not initially given the opportunity to post bond.
"The people arrested in that very first weekend were peaceful protesters with no criminal history, being held for 24 hours or more," said Attorney Ted Shouse.
In Louisville, if someone is arrested on a Friday, they normally get arraigned on Saturday. On May 29, the Chief Judge for Jefferson County issued an order shutting down arraignment court for Saturday and suspending bond payments for the weekend. It was a first for Shouse.
"You can post bond 365 days a year, 24 hours a day in Jefferson County, but for that 48 hours, you couldn't," he said.
The clerk's office backtracked and reopened on Sunday. In the meantime, an online portal was available, but Shouse said "unlawful assembly" and "rioting" weren't listed. Those were the most common charges he saw, along with a third one, "Any other misdemeanor not specified."
"Which means they don't know why they're arresting them," Shouse said. "They're just arresting them for some misdemeanor that they can't name."
Shouse said when arraignment came on Monday, June 1, dozens of protesters had been in jail for 36 hours. He showed up that day ready to represent, along with many other lawyers, including Courtney Kellner.
"If someone's name was called and no one had them on the list, then an attorney would pop up, go up to the lectern and the judge would say, 'I'm Courtney Kellner appearing on behalf of X' and the judge would literally introduce us at this time," she said.
All of their work is being done pro bono and the court costs are paid by the Bail Project in Louisville.
"So, it's all about finding out what your role to play in this is because we all have one and we can all make things better if we all just dedicate ourselves to what we're called to," said Shouse.
Most of the protesters arraigned on that Monday were released on their own recognizance to wait for their court dates, some of which aren't until October. While the arrests have gone down in the last few days, the list of volunteer lawyers continues to grow as they are taking the fight on the streets to the courtroom.
You can read the full Jefferson District Court Order issued on May 29, 2020, below.
Contact reporter Kristin Goodwillie at KGoodwillie@whas11.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
MORE FROM WHAS11:
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.