Power, Politics & the Judicial System | Rethinking Freedom

What does power really look like inside the justice system—and who does it truly serve?

In this thought-provoking episode of Rethinking Freedom, Aya Fubara Eneli sits down with Judge Darrell Jordan, former Harris County Criminal Court Judge and candidate for Harris County District Clerk, for a candid and layered conversation about the intersection of power, politics, and the judicial system.

Before we get into the race itself, we take a step back and ask the bigger questions:

🗳️ Why do local elections matter more than most people realize?
⚖️ How does the judicial system impact everyday life in our communities?
📉 What happens when people don’t show up to vote in local races?

As the conversation unfolds, we move into the realities of this current election:

Why Judge Jordan is running for District Clerk
What he believes needs to change within the system
The role of transparency, access, and efficiency in the courts

We also address the controversies and public scrutiny surrounding his career—creating space for honest dialogue, accountability, and clarity.

And importantly, we explore a deeper question:

✊🏾 What challenges do Black judges face in Texas—and how does race shape perception, scrutiny, and reform within the system?

With early voting approaching (April 21–29) and Election Day on May 2, this episode is both a call to awareness and a call to action.

Because local elections don’t just decide positions—they shape justice, access, and opportunity.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Rethinking Freedom. As always, I am your host, Aya Fabarinelli. And today on Rethinking Freedom, we're continuing our conversation about power, but not the kind people often pay attention to. This is not about the national headlines and it's not about presidential politics. We're talking about local elections because these are the elections that shape our day-to-day lives. We're talking about who has access to the courts, how efficiently justice is delivered, whether systems work for people or against them. Because here's the truth that I try to share with us all the time on this platform many people overlook local elections. These are often the elections that have the most immediate impact on your freedom, your finances, and your future. And here in Texas, the local elections are approaching very quickly. We have early voting April 21st through April 29th, and of course, election day on May 2nd. And what happens during this time will directly affect all of us in our communities. Joining me today is an esteemed guest. You all know that we do not bring anyone on this platform who has not already shown that they are committed to humanity and in particular that they are committed to the advancement of the black community. So today we have George Darrell Jordan Jr. He's a former Harris County Criminal Court judge. And y'all need to know that it takes a lot to become a judge, period. But some of us have a few more obstacles that we have to jump through, and he certainly has been able to scale those. He's a former presiding judge of the misdemeanor courts, and he is now a candidate for Harris County District Clerk. And some people may not have any idea what a district clerk does. You might think, why would you go from a judge to a clerk? Nah, he's going to educate us. Um, his candidacy, like many who have challenged the system, has not been without controversy. When you decide to fight, the forces that abound tend to want to fight back with you, fight back against you. But what we're going to do as we spend some time with our guest today is first talk about the broader issue of why local elections matter in the first place. And then we're going to get into your particular race and what people need to know, why you're running, and what they need to do to get candidates like you across that finish line. So, welcome to Rethinking Freedom, Judge.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

You are so welcome. So actually, before we get even into why local elections are so important, how did you even get on this pathway? You know, some people just go to law school and then just practice. But tell us, tell us a little bit about your background and coming up and how you've become this public servant.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Uh, you know, I have to attribute it all to uh two people. Uh Dean Douglas, who was the uh former president of Texas Southern University, then he went on to be Dean of the Law School, and to this day he's still teaching. Uh, but at the time I was the SBA president of the law school, and Dean Douglas pulled me aside. He said, Hey, there's this internship program in Austin, you need to go do it. It starts in January. I said, Dean, I graduate in May, and the classes are only offered in the spring, so if I go there, I won't be able to graduate on time. And he looked directly me, looked me directly in the eye and said, You need to go do the internship program. And so I went and applied, and I met this man named Rodney Ellis uh at that time. He was a senator in Austin, and what he would do is he would bring people of color uh to work and experience the state legislature. And when I got there, uh Mark Vesey, Congressman Mark Vesey, had just been elected to be a state rep. And there were so flip black people in the Capitol. People used to call me Representative Vesey, and I was like, no, I'm Daryl Jordan. You know, and so that just gives you an idea how special that opportunity was. And from from then I've just stayed connected with him, watched him uh fight all these big fights, and I just fell in love with the political process. You know, I've had offers to go, they were like, oh man, you've been a judge for eight years, you can come to our personal injury firm, you can make a lot of money. Uh, but I grew up uh sometimes homeless, sometimes uh in child abuse shelters. Uh my mother was addicted to drugs, and so I got to where I am today by a hundred other people like James Douglas, who helped me and mentored me. And so I just figured uh I'm living my life's purpose. Oftentimes, uh, for people who are believers, we go through things in life and we don't understand, and it's not revealed to us until maybe decades down the road. Uh, why did I go through all of those things? And so I figure that this is my purpose in life is to fight for people who were in positions like I was the majority of my childhood.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Thank you, Judge, for really for sharing that that I'm gonna call it a testimony because that's how it feels to me. Um in the work that I've done and in the research I've done, something that I consistently see some of our stalwart um justice fighters like Fannie Lou Hamer talk about is the importance of those who are elected, those who are serving us to actually understand the needs of the people that they're supposed to be representing. And she had uh a criticism of many black elites that we, you know, people were out of touch with the people that they were supposed to actually be working for. And just hearing your story and what continues to drive you today is something that really resonated with me. And I hope with our listeners as well, when we think about the caliber of people that we want in positions that are making decisions that affect our lives. So thank you so much for sharing that. So now let's let's get back to this. You know, we know there's apathy, voter apathy. Some of it is people not interested, and the other part is the voter suppression and all the ways that people are being dissuaded from from voting. But for the listener today, what would you tell them is the reason why they should really be tuning in and participating in local elections?

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Uh, I will tell them like this uh people spend millions and millions of dollars every year to control local elections. But somehow they have people in our communities that are spreading the message that your vote does not matter. Your vote does not count. No matter what you do, things will never change. And I always ask, well, why is the other side spending so much money to win the election? Uh, perfect example. When I was elected to the bench uh after two months, I was in federal court testifying against my 15 Republican colleagues because the way they were using bail is almost like a belt. So if you showed up to court five minutes late, you missed your name, then they would revoke your bond and triple it. And so I went to a federal court and testified, and the whole system was torn down. And now we have bail reform in Harris County, where about 83% of the people get out without paying any money because money does not make you safe. And so that was my argument then, and now that system that we have set up in Harris County saves the county$15 million a year. It has lowered recidivism rates, uh, been studied by Harvard University of Pennsylvania, and it has been replicated across the country. And, you know, before I got elected, I was just a regular everyday lawyer, just going around handling my cases. I thought I bought a Toyota Prius so I could drive all over the state and take cases and not have to spend a lot of gas money. And then once I got in the position, uh then I used my power uh to make something uh that was positive that could not only help those that were poor, but it could also help the citizens of Harris County. And so there was this movie I watched about Harriet Tubman, and Harriet, when she escaped, she kept coming back.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

She kept coming back. And that's what we need because oftentimes what we do is we escape and we never returned. Uh, you know, I'm about to say some slang, but everybody would understand it. A lot of people develop this syndrome that I've come up with called me and minds. So as long as me and minds are okay, I'm not worried about anybody else. And that's that's why women aren't paying the same pay as uh men in the same jobs, because those men in the room refuse to risk their status, uh refuse to risk their pay, their prevalence women. Right. And so we have to have more people. And it to me, uh, so much of my life goes back to faith because I I I have this belief, what's mine is mine. And if God doesn't want me to have it, then I won't have it. And so if if He has put me in that room, you know, it's for me to be the salt, to be the light, uh, to glorify Him. It's not there for me to become a millionaire or billionaire. Now I'm not complaining if that does happen. Yeah, but I also That's not the driving force, right? I need to be doing something positive to help others uh get to where I've I've been able to achieve, or even further. But it's uh so many of us uh in the African-American community who will see a show like this with two lawyers and and and and they'll say, no man, that's that only happens on TV. That's not real life. We still have people in our community that do not believe what we're doing right now, having this conversation, having our various degrees, is a realistic possibility for their lives.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Not only is it realistic, I mean, that's not to say there haven't been obstacles, because I know we can trade stories. Uh, you know, I've I've offloaded um what is it called, UPS trucks, after lift burgers, you know, you did whatever you needed to do um to get the resources to be able to continue with your education. Um, but it is possible. But that's also why we have this kind of platform so that people we can start normalizing this for our young people who are feeling like, you know, the the the weight of the sh the world is on their shoulders and they and they're buying into the propaganda of imposter syndrome or these doors are closed to us, particularly in this day and age with the felon in chief and everything that he's doing to try and dismantle pathways of equity. Um, I think it is important that we're able to have these conversations and that young people and others be able to see that this is not only possible, it happens.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Absolutely. You think about when I look at what we went through during slavery, uh that empowers me. I don't use it as a crutch or anything else. It's like look where we came from. We came from a very spite of right, uh, a terrible system of chattel slavery. Uh, and even you know, my my dad and his father, you know, they went through some very harsh things during the civil rights movement. And look at us now. We we we and so I use that as as strength. So when I walk in those rooms, I I don't even know what imposter syndrome is. I belong here. I've worked twice, if not three times as hard to get here. And I'm gonna let you know I belong here. And when it's my time to go, it's my time to go. But during those eight years I was elected, I didn't care if I was talking to the the police chief, the DA, or whoever, I belong in this room, and you're gonna hear me.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

And I think it's so important that you raised what generations before us experienced, because we are in a place now where this generation has to decide how we're going to show up and fight. And like you said, there are millions of dollars. There's a whole lot of disinformation campaign out there trying to tell members of our community not to vote, not to exercise their rights, even though our ancestors shed blood for us to have this opportunity. And we need to pause and ask if it doesn't matter, why are they trying so hard to make sure that we don't exercise this right? But then for those of you who've been listening, you see what a difference having someone like a Judge Jordan in these positions can do when he is speaking up and changing situations that can affect any of us. Any of us could have someone who's arrested falsely, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. And then if you don't have this bail reform, now this person is locked up. Maybe now they lose their job. Now a family is in financial distress and it just snowballs. So important to have someone like you in position. So now let's talk specifically about your race. So, what position are you running for and why?

SPEAKER_00 14:12

So I am running for Harris County District Clerk. Uh, the best way to describe the district clerk is the head administrator uh for the justice system.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

And so here we are in the Well, you mean so the clerk isn't just like typing because you know people get clerk and they think you know you're getting people's coffee and typing. That's not it. No, that's let me say that again. What was the district clerk? What did they do?

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Uh so the here, I'll explain like this. There's 600 employees that report to the district clerk, and the district clerk has a 68 million dollar budget. So that should give you a level of the importance of the district clerk. If the district clerk's office shuts down, the whole justice system shuts down. Because as lawyers, you and I know, but for everyone else, when you file a lawsuit or the you know probate or you want to get a divorce, most people do it online, but you can file your paperwork online or you can go down to the courthouse and file your paperwork. But the district clerk uh serves as the chief custodian of those documents and they ensure that they're available uh for the general public and lawyers and everyone else uh online. And so it's very important that that office is run in a fair and efficient manner. Uh, otherwise, you know, you may have somebody who's been waiting on child support for two or three years because the papers aren't being processed. And so that are that's some of the things that the district clerk does, as well as jury assembly. Now, the judges handle jury selection. Uh when you go sit in court, and then the both sides get to talk and strikes, and so that's jury selection. The clerk handles jury assembly. Here in Houston, Texas, there are 2.7 million people who are qualified to serve. And so uh there's a computer system and it selects those people, and then they receive a summons and they come down to the jury assembly area, and then they are divided and sent over to the courtrooms.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Okay, you you you all are getting that education here. So you understand better having just tuned in on what the district clerk does. So, how does this role influence access to justice?

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Uh, it has a tremendous impact uh on access to justice. Uh, a lot of people uh talk about uh we need a need for us to simplify the forms, right? So it does no good if you can get to the forms online if you start reading them and things are written in a confusing manner. And oftentimes you will see in the legal industry, it's everything is written for lawyers. Uh as a judge, I would tell the young prosecutors at the end the reason you probably didn't win because you were presenting your case as if you were presenting it to another lawyer, as opposed to lay people or just regular everyday people. And so that's how the forms need to be written in a regular, everyday manner. And then we're blessed to have three law schools here in Houston. And so uh when I'm elected, I want to go to those deans of those law schools and say, uh, can we set up legal clinics that will be able to assist pro se filers because it does no good again if they have access and you say, okay, we'll file your petition. Okay, what's the petition? How do I do it? Is there anybody I can talk to about it? Nope, but you have access now, so have a great day. And so, you know, we have to take those uh additional steps to ensure that we're doing more than just talking. Uh, we need to make sure that when we do provide those pro se filers, which means an individual who's not a lawyer, who's representing themselves, when they need access to the justice system, they should not only have access, but they should also have a way to at least have a baseline understanding of what they need to be doing.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

I can't even emphasize how important it is what you just said, because when we talk about the judicial system and having access, oftentimes that that barrier is I don't have the resources to hire an attorney. And if I don't have the resources to hire an attorney, but I also cannot understand this legalese, all these documents that are written in a certain way, I can't represent myself either, which could mean that someone is just denied the justice that they deserve. And I see it so often in my practice where people can't afford my services, but they're bringing these documents and saying, well, but can you at least just help me understand this part so that they can still file on their behalf? And sometimes it's it's a divorce, sometimes it's a situation where you know a child has been, you know, exposed to some trauma and a parent is trying to protect the child, but they're having a hard time even navigating how to go about um accessing the justice that they deserve. So so thank you for that. So how many other people are you know campaigning for this seat right now? And what distinguishes you from your opponents?

SPEAKER_00 19:30

So uh we started off uh what was it September, October? Uh, there were eight of us in the race. And then on uh March 3rd, there was an election, and it's only two of us remaining now. And uh so there's several factors uh or several things I bring to the table that the other candidates didn't. Um I've been a lawyer for 25 years, uh, for 20 years. I've served in the military for 25 years.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

I'm currently hold on one second. So for those of you who are watching live as opposed to those who are, or if you're watching us on the YouTube channel as opposed to those who are listening on the radio, um, I'm flabbergasted. Did you say 20 year one? You went into college at 10? See when we say black don't crack, you have to come to the YouTube side to see your face with that. I'm thinking, okay, how did he do all of this? He must be in his mid 30s. He said he has been a judge, he's been sorry, he's been practicing law for 20 years. Okay, I just had to interrupt you there.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yeah, so it in June I'll turn 50. Uh, yeah, I have a son who's 21 at Texas AM, and my daughter's uh 18 at the University of Missouri. Uh but uh and so and having served as the head judge, the administration uh the presiding judge, as we call it, in the criminal courts, I was able to lead a county department for 18 months. And so not only do I think that having legal experience is imperative for this role, uh, it also uh helps in making decisions because so much of what we do involves the legal system. And so, do you have to be a lawyer? No, you you don't you don't you don't have to be a lawyer to go do a heart surgery. I mean, you know, you can be a lawyer and go do a heart surgery. It may not come out right, might not be a good idea. You know, but but it would help if you at least had some legal or medical training, whatever the role is you're going to take. And so I think it and when if so my opponent is 23 years old and a college student. It yeah, 23 years old and a college student. And so right now, what I'm doing is going around letting everybody know about my experience. Uh, because in the military we learn when you transfer. Into a new position, the first thing you knew you need to do is seek out the leaders in the organization and then establish buy-in. And I just think with my resume, it would be a lot easier for me to walk into the district clerk's office and establish buy-in, and then win these people over, uh, state my vision plan, and then say, how can you assist me in achieving my goal for this office? Uh, versus someone who's 23 and you have career employees who've been there 20 plus years, and they have someone coming in uh who was a former student and now telling them what to do and trying to leave the office.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

And so it just really doesn't have applicable um experience for no. Did you just say$68 million$68 million budget?

SPEAKER_00 22:50

68 million, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

And and just how much this whole area impacts people's lives.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Absolutely. And and when we think about uh different positions in Harris County, we are larger than 27 states. So when you get a countywide elected position in Harris County, it's like being a baby governor or something, you know, it's a lot of responsibility. And so I've been able uh to experience the pressure that comes with uh leading an office like this. Uh and I've had to fight through battles, and there's something about uh being battle tested. You know, it's even like like a lawyer, you can have three trials or you can have 75 trials, and it doesn't make you a better lawyer because you've had 75 versus three, but you've learned a lot of lessons if you've had 75 trials. You you you could you you know you can read the room and all kinds of other things that someone who's only had three has not experienced yet. So experience in these positions where people's freedom and their money and everything else is on the line, it truly matters.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Yeah, it it really does. Um, so I would not be doing my job if I don't address the fact that there has been some controversy in the past. Do you want to address that? What was that about and what was the outcome?

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah, look, uh, I believe when you're a public servant, you don't have no personal business. Now, if you ask me what's going on in my house, I ain't gonna talk about that.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

That's why I'm not running for office. But I appreciate those of you who do.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

But yeah, but when it's when it's the people's business, I have no problem talking about it. Uh, and I have so many controversial things. Uh, it when I first got elected, they started filing judicial complaints on me because I was leading the fight for bail reform. That caused a lot of bail bonding businesses uh to go out of business. They've lost millions of dollars because all of those misdemeanors that have been uh charged with a crime are now getting out without having to pay them money.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Uh okay, hold on. Can you say that again and maybe walk people through and put a pen in what you were the next point you were gonna make? But just like what kind of charges constitute misdemeanors and what it can mean when you are held over or you have to come up with bail money versus when there's been bail reform and you have other options. Can you just educate the people on that?

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Yeah, I'll give uh this is my example I always give. Uh and I use myself and you. So uh we're students here at Texas Southern, and it's it's Friday, exam week starts on Monday. Uh, you're going to Walmart uh because you have a car, but you're not rich. Uh my parents refuse to buy me a car, but I have money, but I like to steal. So while you're over there doing your shopping on the food side of Walmart, I'm over in the electronics department stealing video games. We meet at the cash register, we walk out, and then they arrest both of us under the law of parties. And what they normally allege is that you were looking out for me while I was stealing. So uh, so your car gets towed. We both go down to jail uh on Friday. I simply call my parents and they bomb me out. I'm back on campus uh the same day. Whereas you sit in court waiting on your court-appointed lawyer to show up on Monday, and you tell your lawyer, I don't know what he was doing. I was buying vegetables and food because exam week is coming up, and I wanted to be prepared. And when we walked out, they grabbed both of us, and the lawyer says, Oh my goodness, great. You know, Walmart has cameras. I'll get the cameras. And you say, Okay, well, dang, is my case gonna get dismissed? How long does it take to get the video footage? Oh, it's gonna take two to three months, two to three months. And so at that point, you have to decide one, uh, are you gonna flunk out of school? Are you gonna lose your car? Because you don't have any money, and it was already told, so each day it's getting tow fees. And so they're like, Well, you can plead guilty today, and the judge will let you go home because you don't have a criminal history. So they will let you leave today. And then me, I've bonded out, got out, and I can sign up for a pretrial diversion program. Pre-trial diversion requires you to get two or three letters of uh of character letters, uh, show proof that you're enrolled in school and and that you're uh a good person. So here I am guilty, and I get to go home free and have my case dismissed. And here you are innocent, and you are forced to take a plea deal or lose your entire livelihood all over, you know, three, four, five hundred dollars, whatever the bond was set at. And so it it was a system where poor people were punished for being poor, not because they were guilty uh of a crime. And so when I did that, well, all these bail bonding companies that were normally charging, you know, 500 or 1,000 or 10,000 to get out, they were no longer collecting those fees. And so they started coming after me. I had a um, the first complaint I had was for having a commercial uh for my law firm. It wasn't running on the internet, it was on YouTube, on the uh the guy who produced the commercial, it was on his platform to show his various work. So when I when I received the judicial complaint, I reached out to the judicial commission and I was like, I'm not running my law practice. They said, Well, you need to get that commercial taken down, or you're subject to being penalized. I said, but this is his personal work, this is what he's done. Then they just stressed to me in a stern way, you uh need to call him and ask him, will he take your commercial down? And so that was the start of it. But by the end uh of my term, uh I had been arrested. Uh there was a reporter, and if anybody's bored, you can Google Daryl Jordan uh arrested on YouTube and you can watch the whole video. It was during COVID. And during co uh during COVID, uh, and and just let me state judges are never ever ever ever ever ever arrested for making a mistake. With what the proper procedure is to file an appeal. And so that's that's for just for everyone, that's what normally happens. And so uh during COVID, I would have uh people on Zoom, and then you would stay in the waiting room until I would pull you in, and then you would appear on screen. Uh, but if you came to the courthouse, I was like, oh shoot, you know, because back then we really didn't know what COVID was or anything. If you came into the courtroom, then I'm gonna stop what I'm doing and talk to the person who risked their life to come to court because that's what I thought was going on.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

And so it turned out to be an investigative reporter who goes around the state. I'm sure he's probably been in your area, Wayne Dolcefino, uh, and what he does is he files public information requests. And when those requests aren't uh satisfied within the state's uh limit of time, then he files criminal complaints uh for them not complying. And at that time, he was under investigation by the DA's office, and at that, I was uh I was the head judge, so I had to appoint a special prosecutor. And so he wanted to come talk to me about why the special prosecutors were taking so long. Now keep in mind, I'm a judge, I'm not a prosecutor. My role was simply to appoint special prosecutors. And so when he came in, I said, sir, I can't talk to you about it. And um, and he didn't like that answer. Uh, I told him he had to leave court, but then I was like, wait, we have open courts, you don't have to leave, just have to have a seat. But court is in session. And he said, No, it's not. And I'm I'm not gonna explain to you how court works. And it's all on the video. And so I said, either you leave or I'm gonna hold you in contempt. And he told me he told me, do what you gotta do. So I locked him up. And from there, he was able to convince uh people that I should be arrested. I was investigated for a year by the Texas Rangers. I was indicted on a Monday, never went to court, and the case was dismissed on a Thursday. And during that time, before he ever walked into the courtroom, uh, I was going through the vetting process with uh the Soros group because they wanted me to run for DA. And so the, you know, I tell people we're playing chess or playing checkers, and other people are playing chess, backgammon, uh whatever, but we're on two different levels because I never in a many years thought that I would make it out of Albany, Georgia, a little small country town that was the murder capital of the United States when I was in the eighth grade.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

And then end up getting arrested as a judge.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

As a judge.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

As a judge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Yeah. I can't imagine the the the shock that was. But even that adds to your experiences and just understanding what people are subjected to on the other side, if you will. Um so what do the voters need to know? What do you think that they should know to be able to say definitely, definitively, this is who we want to represent us? And what would you, what would be the your marching orders for them? For people who are listening today, who are saying, okay, I need more information, you're giving it to them. And then what would be their next steps in order to get you across this finish line?

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Uh, I would say to people, recognize the power that you hold, recognize the power that your community holds. We just had a special election here in Harris County in the city of Houston uh for uh the city council representative district C, there are 250,000 people in that district, only 9,000 people came out to vote. The person that's in the lead right now for the runoff had 2,300 votes.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

And so if out of 25,000, sorry, 2004 out of 250,000.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Right, right. So it's it's literally like uh somebody who went to the local high school and and knew the last three graduating classes couldn't take over the city, could take over the city, could control who the mayor is. And when you have uh one of my old mentors told me there's two sources of power, organize money and organize people. So if people would just sit around and organize themselves and get people to go out and vote, then yes, your potholes will be filled. Even if you just had 10,000 people who you could send a mail or two or send an email or text message to, then elected officials would start listening to you and ensure, hey, make sure we uh keep Bobby happy. You know he has all those connections. Bobby can't influence the uh the election and and kick us out of office. We have to keep Bobby happy. That means your neighborhood all of a sudden starts looking better, the parks are better, you have more police patrolling your neighborhood. And so when you recognize somebody who's not only talking the talk but walking the walk, you need to ensure that person is supported and stays in office. That's just the right, that's just the right thing to do. One of my uh quick two-minute plans, uh, Harris County has determined that$20 is the proper minimum wage. That's what the lowest paid person in Harris County makes,$20 an hour. But when people come for jury service, they are paid$30 on the first day and$58 each subsequent day. Now, the law says that you should have a jury of your peers, but it also says you have to have a true cross-section of the community. That means you can't just have all the rich people or you can't just have all the white people show up. Right now, over 50% of the people who show up are over$50 and white, and they're spending$250,000 to determine why no one else is coming. I already know why. They can't afford it. You can't afford it.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

Yeah, if you're gonna pay$30 for a whole day, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:10

How much deals?

SPEAKER_02 35:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

And you got to realize you can drive an hour in Houston and still be in Houston. And so you got you're talking about gas, you're talking about child care, you know, and so poor people are eliminated from serving. And just like with bail reform, bail had been misused for years and nobody was willing to step up. And so we'll see where this fight with jury service goes, because I believe the current practice is unconstitutional. What comes out of this case out of Louisiana were women had to opt in to vote, opt in to be on a jury. And the and the Supreme Court said that was unconstitutional because the policies, regardless of effect, were eliminating women from serving on jury duties.

SPEAKER_01 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:59

And so, but but the fact that people uh have that huge financial barrier, I believe that also uh prohibits people uh from serving on jury duty. And Harris County has already determined next year they're spending$33 million to send people who are waiting trial in Harris County jail uh out of state to Mississippi and Louisiana. So that's why I would say go vote because it's very important. And you need people like me and other fighters in office that are fighting for your interests.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

You are dropping bombshell after bombshell. You're saying that Harris County is considering or has decided to spend$33 million moving people who are have they been convicted at this point, or they're just waiting trial?

SPEAKER_00 36:50

They're they're awaiting trial.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

They are awaiting trial, and they're going to move them to Mississippi. So it's like rent, we're basically this is a whole different form of slavery going on here. For profit, yes. So another state is going to be paid to take folk who are still innocent because they have not been proven guilty in states where, if you guys go and look up what's happening in Mississippi, Alabama, some of these states, their judicial system, their jails, their prisons are very problematic. But now you also have the added effect of let's say that was my loved one or that was me in jail. Now my family can't even easily access me anymore because I've been shipped to a whole other state, and I still have not been proven guilty yet.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

Right, right. And and the and the 33 million is down from the 55 million they spent this year. And then just look at it from a lawyer perspective, you can't even go ahead and be with your clients. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a it's a it's a struggle. But you know, there was a lawsuit last week that's that you know they're in trial now, is to get air conditioning in um in the prisons. And so people, when when you are in the legal system, especially the criminal justice wing of the of the legal system, nobody cares about you. They don't care if you have AC, they don't care if you're treated in a humane way. Uh, I know if at least if you've ever been to Harris County Courthouse and you walk in, you don't know if you've done a crime or you're the lawyer. You're like, why are you talking to me crazy? I'm a lawyer. You you shouldn't talk to anybody crazy, but that's just how you once you walk in that building. Now, if you go to the civil building, it's a completely different attitude. Completely different attitude. But with anything associated with uh criminal courts, uh you you end up getting treated uh very bad. And we have to address it because everybody is somebody. Uh people uh love to call me Judge Jordan, and I tell them, look, my mom told me I was somebody. You can call me Darren. I'm I'm I'm I'm fine with that.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

But you know you've also earned it. You've also earned the honor and you've also earned the honor and click. My goodness. So, what kind of assistance are you looking for in these last few weeks before people go to the polls? What can people do to support your candidacy?

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Uh, my website is Daryl Jordan Jr. Uh, and that's Daryl with two R's and two L's uh junior. And you can go on there and you can provide uh financial support. A stamp right now is 78 cents, and they're about to raise the price uh because the post office is funded through their sales of stamps. So they're going to raise the price. And sending out mailers is important, but even if you don't have money, you have a cell phone, you can simply get on your contacts and say, you know what, you know, I heard this guy today on the radio or I saw him on YouTube, and you guys should know about him. You live in Houston. And, you know, just having everyone share the message uh because it means so much more than me sending uh a mail or me sending a text message because I don't know them.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

So, you know, which what everyone becomes is a trusted messenger because you're reaching out to people uh under your sphere, sphere of influence. So it just means a lot more. And so I I would appreciate everybody just you know what sharing this message, sharing your YouTube channel, uh, because it's important because even though we're sitting here talking about it, there are millions and millions of people who don't even know another election is coming, don't know a runoff election is coming. And a lot of people, believe it or not, don't know there's an election in November. They they just don't know.

SPEAKER_02 40:39

This is true, unfortunately, but we can use the power of, like you said, of our phones, of social media, your email list, whatever. We can be part of that vanguard that goes and tells that story, telling it on the mountains, over the hills, and everywhere we go. Um, because we cannot sit around waiting for someone else to come and save us. And while we're not doing anything, there are forces that are actively working to ensure that people don't know they can vote, that people who know they can vote are dissuaded from voting, and then also just the disinformation, even on when elections are taking place. So some people I know in my community felt, well, we voted in March, we done till November. And it's like, no, we've got some runoffs, and then we also have city council and school board elections in May as well. And so it's important that just like we call people when it was March Madness and your team is playing, or you know, you saw a good deal here, whatever, it's important when it comes to the issues of politics, of judicial access, of reform um equity issues that we're also as enthusiastic about sharing this information and getting people along. I know that I call friends and I'm like, when are you voting? And don't leave it till the last day. Because anything can happen. You're driving and you got two hours before the the um polls close and you get you know a tire blowout, and then now all of a sudden, and when you you can't make it, and everybody keeps thinking, well, other people are voting. My vote doesn't matter that much. But we have so many examples where a person is in office for one, two, three votes, and so every vote absolutely, absolutely um um counts. So getting the word out, word of mouth, which doesn't cost you any money, but also I know that elections cost money, like you said, 78 cents just to mail out um to get a um a stamp. So when you see a candidate that you want to have in office, again, waiting for and hoping that someone else will make it happen is a is it's that that's not the way for us to win here. Whether it's five dollars, ten dollars, a hundred dollars, five hundred dollars that you can put towards essentially what we're doing is trying to get people into office that will fight for our humanity, that will fight for our freedom. And you have just heard from Judge Darrell Jordan, this is not something that he's hoping he will do. He is a proven fighter. This is what he has been doing. And um thank God he's willing to put his life on the line here to literally to do this because I know you are not getting any sleep as you run for this.

SPEAKER_00 43:38

No, it is I tell people I will never complain about the job because I volunteered for it. I I've I volunteered for it. But there are have been times when I was deployed in Saudi Arabia for 13 months, and then my son was filling out his college application, and he said he put down the leadership positions, he was the uh the the whatever the captain of. The football team, and I was like, Andrew, you don't have to lie to get into college. He said, Dad, that was the year you were gone. I almost started crying, I had to shake it off. But you know, you make sacrifices as a public servant. And I raised my hand and signed up to be in the military, and I'm raising my hand to say I want to be the district clerk, and I will go in there and make sure things are fair and equitable for all people.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

Again, I I feel like I really need you to harm this particular point home. What happens if people don't go out and vote for you?

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Then it it puts us in a bad place. It puts us in a bad place. It's it's as simple as things like uh if a person were beating their spouse and then there was a protective order put in place, the district clerk has to process that. The district clerk has to process that. Then when the cop pulls the couple over and the lady is crying, or head in the husband or whatever says, Oh, she just has allergies. Then the cop goes back, pulls the man's name, and says, Oh, he has a protective order. He strangled her allegedly, and he's not supposed to have any contact with her for the next six months. Then, you know, those things are important. When you have people in office who don't know what they're doing, then it's a problem. There was a district clerk recently that was held in contempt because she couldn't find the records. She couldn't produce the records. The judge kept giving her opportunity after opportunity. Bring the records to court. This is your job to maintain these records. And so this is not an office that we play around with. Now, if it was head dog catcher, then yeah, you find anybody off the street and say, hey man, your job is to catch dogs. Well, get them to train them and let them do their job. But this is a job you need to have some baseline understanding of what the position requires to ensure that it is up and running. So you know when one thing happens and two or three things happen at one time, you know where to prioritize. We can wait for this, but this has to be fixed today. And so it's it's things like that that I bring to the table uh that my opponent uh cannot.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

Thank you very much for sharing that. All right, so can you give us dates? Harris County, when when will show up?

SPEAKER_00 46:19

That normally early voting is two weeks. Here is only five days, May 18th through the 22nd, and then election day is May 26th after Memorial Day. And so, you know, I know a lot of people will probably be out of town that weekend partying and then using that uh they have to go back to work on that Tuesday, and then they'll be tired because they've been partying and having fun, barbecuing. But remember, uh voting is very important, and I encourage you uh to go early vote that way you can enjoy your vacation. And then, like most people, you need a vacation from your vacation. So on that Tuesday, you can stay at home and rest, but you have to go early vote, and then you know if it's raining on that day, nobody's gonna struggle because they don't want the hair messed up. But so go vote early.

SPEAKER_02 47:08

Now, is there any information that voters should know? I know that with the um primary elections, there were some could there was some confusion about where people could actually vote. Is there anything people should do ahead of time to make sure that they are going to the right place and they don't get turned around at the last minute?

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Yes, in Harris County, you can go to Harrisvotes.com. And because I'm a nerd and have no life and read the newspaper all the time, Dallas County, uh the chair of the Republican Party has uh pushed to go back to countywide voting. So you can just show up at any voting location and vote, uh, regardless of where you live. That's what we have in Harris County. But there were some big issues in Dallas uh that unfortunately Congressman Crockett suffered, uh, I believe because of that, because people were showing up voting where they had been voting for the past whatever five, six years, and now the location had been changed. And so we have to be aware because it and it's small things like uh doing that. If you can change the vote by two to three percent, then you win.

SPEAKER_01 48:12

Huge, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

And uh, yeah, I know we don't know that, but yeah, two to three percent in an election is is a is a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

All right, so they can go to harrisvotes.com.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Okay, and then give us your website once more, please.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

D-A-R-R-E-L-L-J-O-R D-A-N-J-R.com. Daryl Jordan Junior.com.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Well, thank you, Judge. We really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule. I know that you've got a lot to do, particularly in this season. Want to thank you for all your sacrifice and your commitment and service to our country, both as um a member of the military, but also now in this in this role. And um, certainly hoping that your message has hit home and that everyone of you listening will, if you're in Texas, you know someone in Harris County. Go ahead and call them and let them know they need to go out and support someone who would truly make a difference. And we know that because he's already been making a difference and fighting for everyday people. So thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Having you back as the district.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Absolutely. I'd look forward to it as well. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

You too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

I hope you enjoyed our conversation with Judge Jordan. But I want to take the last few minutes of our time together to really buttress the intersection of power, politics, and the judicial system and what it means for you. Because I understand that people don't move until they are motivated to do so by pain or by pleasure, and that some of us are so far removed or think we're so far removed from these issues that, oh, that's not going to be my problem. So I want to spend a few minutes just talking about the history we forgot and the future we decide. So let's take a moment and step back. Because what we just heard in the conversation that I had with Judge Jordan is not new. It may feel current, it may feel urgent. The fact that there are other states making money from renting people who have been charged with crimes but haven't even been convicted of them. It's not new, but it should feel urgent. The intersection of power, politics, and the judicial system has always been one of the most redefining and contested spaces in American history. And I'm here to say you cannot sit by the sidelines and expect things to work out to your benefit. Like we have to engage and we have to get involved. And if we don't understand our history, we will misunderstand the present and the urgency of now. Whether you are in Harris County and can vote for Judge Jordan or whether you are in any other municipality across the United States of America, you need to go and do your research and find out who you're going to support. But setting it out is not the answer. Let's talk about the illusion of neutrality. There's a story that we're often told about the courts, that they are neutral, that they are objective, that they are above politics. You've heard all of that, I'm sure. But as an officer of a court and as someone who has studied our history, the reality is actually something different. Courts have always reflected the power structures of their time. Sometimes they have challenged power, but often they have enforced it. We see the decision by the Supreme Court that was largely appointed by the 34-time convicted felon, and how they seem to be giving him a pass on too many things to the point of basically saying, you are above the law. You can do anything as president, and we will not prosecute you. You would not be prosecuted. Let's talk about Dred Scott when the law denied humanity. Dred Scott v. Sanford, a black man stood before the highest court in the land asking for recognition of his humanity. And the court responded with a ruling that declared that black people had no rights that white people were bound to respect. Yeah. Same United States of America. Home of the brave, land of the free. Of course, Fannie Lou Hema would say home of the grave, land of the tree. That was not just law, though, with the Dredd's card decision. That was power codified. That was politics disguised as justice. Now let's move forward to the Reconstruction period, a glimpse of possibility, right? After the Civil War, we had this moment brief, but it was powerful. Where the system, it seemed, began to shift and black men held office. Not women, but black men, new laws were written, and the courts began in some ways to expand access. But then the power recalibrated. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld segregation under separate but equal. Again, the courts didn't stand outside politics, they reinforced the politics of the time. But of course, we know that race was not the only battlefield as a woman. We know that women have had had a long and continue to have a long fight for legal recognition. Wasn't until the 70s where a woman could actually have an account in her name and sign contracts and things of that nature. And there are people who would like to take us back to a time when women were stripped of most of their rights. For much of American history, women were not seen as independent legal actors. I know we're about to celebrate, some of you anyway, celebrate 250 years of the existence of the United States of America. But for most of that history, women could not vote. They had limited property rights, and their legal identity was tied to their fathers or their husbands. And even after gaining the right to vote through the 19th Amendment, equality was not really achieved yet for us. I mean, think about it. We still don't have equal pay for equal work, and it's 2026. Cases like Reed v. Reed mark the first time the Supreme Court strunk down a law for gender discrimination. Here we are today with the woolly, incompetent human being who has been appointed to Secretary of Defense, even though he's given it a different name, who is trying to block the promotions of women and black people. Promotions that he could never earn in a million years, that he is utterly unqualified for, but in his position, he can wield power to try and block what they have fought for. So the discrimination continues and we've got to keep fighting back. But we cannot effectively fight back if we will not vote in every layer. Because, see, if we had a different Congress, if we had a different Senate, Pete Hexett wouldn't be with his incompetent self, would not be in this position to try to discriminate against women and black people for promotions that they've earned. Of course, we know we then had Title IX, which opened doors for girls and women in education, particularly in athletics. But even there, look at the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. The fight still continues. Equal pay, bodily autonomy, protection against violence. Now women cannot make decisions about their bodies and can be refused care. And of course, we can talk about people with disabilities. The fight to be seen. Right? We can talk about members of the LGBTQIA plus um community and ongoing battles. Some of you may not remember this, but it took the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act for us to have laws that required accessibility. And there are some who would want to turn back the hands of that of those times. Brown V Board Education of Education, a turning point, but unfortunately not an ending. That was the case that declared segregation of public schools unconstitutional. And states like Texas fought against it. In fact, there were states in there were areas in Texas that up until the 1990s were still segregated. And the pendulum is swinging again. So what we see is that throughout the struggle of any group of people in this country for equality, that the courts became a battleground, not just for race, but for gender, for disability rights, for access, for everything. People had to fight case by case to expand what justice meant. And so here's the deal: you and I have an obligation to vote, to make our voices heard, to put people in office who are tried and tested, who we know will actually fight for the average person and not just the super wealthy. Because when you have people who are not fighting to make systems provide equality, what we see is that those systems provide unequal outcomes, that bail systems disproportionately impact the poor, even though it looks benign on the surface, that court processes are difficult to navigate, and we can change that. And that there are barriers that affect those without resources. And your election matters because these systems are not abstract, they are run by people, people who decide what access we have. And it is time for you to join in that fight. So please go out and vote. Please support a candidate. Make your voice heard. Thank you.