Tarrant County residents gather in Fort Worth to discuss the death penalty and what’s at stake on the ballot
WHAT: BlackTOP, the Black voter engagement program of the Texas Organizing Project, hosts People on the Merits: Justice on the Tarrant County Ballot. Fort Worth City Councilwoman Deborah Peoples and civil rights attorney Lee Merritt will join Tarrant County residents for a conversation on the death penalty, prosecutorial power, and justice in Tarrant County.
District attorneys decide which criminal cases move forward and whether to seek the death penalty. According to a May 2026 Texas Defender Service report, Tarrant County has accounted for nearly 23% of Texas death penalty trials since 2020, even though the county makes up only about 7% of the state’s population. The conversation will explore what that means for Tarrant County families and what’s at stake on the ballot this November.
- WHO:
- Deborah Peoples, Fort Worth City Councilwoman, District 5
- Lee Merritt, Civil Rights Attorney
- Brianna Brown, Executive Director, Texas Organizing Project and Texas Organizing Project PAC
- BlackTOP members and Tarrant County residents
Speakers will be available for interviews from 5:30 PM to 5:50 PM CT.
WHEN: Monday, October 26, 2026 | 5:30 PM to 8 PM CT WHERE: The Dock Bookshop, 6637 Meadowbrook Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76112. Parking is plentiful on site. VISUALS: Councilwoman Peoples and attorney Merritt in conversation with community members, BlackTOP organizers in branded shirts, Tarrant County residents asking questions and sharing their priorities on camera.
WHY: District attorneys decide which criminal cases move forward and whether to seek the death penalty. According to a May 2026 Texas Defender Service report, Tarrant County has accounted for nearly 23% of Texas death penalty trials since 2020, even though the county makes up only about 7% of the state’s population. People on the Merits creates space for residents to hear directly from community leaders about what that means for Tarrant County families and what’s at stake on the ballot this November.
Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities across Bexar, Dallas, Fort Bend, Harris, and Tarrant counties with a vision of a Texas rewritten by its true majority, where Black and Latino working-class communities lead boldly, shape culture and policy, and live with the dignity, safety, and power we’ve always deserved. For more information, visit www.organizetexas.org.
