On May 8, Chuck Lanehart freed another client at risk of contracting COVID-19 at the Lubbock County Jail. The young African-American man faced serious drug charges in a rural county, which were the basis for a parole violation “blue warrant”. A blue warrant blocks the client from posting bail.

Chuck swiftly negotiated a misdemeanor punishment deal on the drug charge (accomplished by a court hearing via ZOOM). An immediate hearing on the parole violation was scheduled (which, over objection, was required to be held live and in person by all litigants). Furthermore, Chuck successfully argued for the client to be reinstated on parole. He was out of jail within a few days of the parole revocation hearing.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the law firm of Chappell, Lanehart & Stangl has focused on assisting incarcerated clients at risk of infection in jails and prisons. Our philosophy is non-violent offenders have no business being locked up and exposed to the dangers of the virus. Criminal accusations against such clients do not carry the possibility of a death sentence, which is a possible consequence of incarceration.