State of Texas v. Hervis Rogers
What's at Stake
The ACLU, ACLU of Texas, and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube represented Mr. Hervis Rogers, a Houston man who faced charges for voting while on parole after waiting more than six hours to cast his ballot in March 2020. Mr. Rogers faced up to 40 years in prison, despite believing he was simply fulfilling his civic duty. In October 2022, Mr. Rogers’ charges were dismissed.
Summary
The ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube represented Hervis Rogers, a Houston man who faced charges for voting while ineligible to vote. The charges came a year and a half after Rogers, who is Black, waited more than six hours in line to cast his ballot in March 2020. The state claimed that Rogers voted while he was still on parole. Rogers was arrested in July 2021 and released on bail, set at $100,000. He faced up to 40 years in prison, despite believing that he was simply fulfilling his civic duty.
In October 2022, a district court judge dismissed the charges against Rogers, after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled (in a separate case) that the Texas Attorney General (who had been prosecuting Rogers) did not have the authority to unilaterally prosecute voting crimes.
