Tennessee voters will decide whether those accused of some felonies lose right to pretrial bail

Yahoo

22-04-2025

Tennesseans will have the option in 2026 to vote on a constitutional amendment that would permit for denial of bail in some crimes. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Tennessee voters will have the final say on a proposed amendment to the state's constitution that would remove the right to pretrial bail for people accused of committing certain crimes.
The Tennessee House of Representatives voted 84-10 with one abstention Monday to place the matter in voters' hands. It received the approval of the required two-thirds of the Senate in March.
The issue will appear on the Nov. 3, 2026 gubernatorial ballot and must receive a majority vote from participants in that election's governor's race to become law.
The proposed amendment would strip the right to bail 'when the proof is evident or the presumption great' from defendants charged with any of 73 felony crimes for which Tennessee requires convicted people to serve at least 85% of their sentence.
Those crimes include second-degree murder, acts of terrorism, aggravated rape of a child, vehicular homicide, aggravated burglary and the third felony offense of manufacture, sale or delivery of a controlled substance.
The decision of whether to grant bail would lie in the hands of the judge.
Tennessee's constitution currently safeguards the right to bail for all prisoners except for capital offenses (functionally, first-degree murder and rape of a child under age 12).
The ballot measure's opponents said it would deny due process for those accused – not convicted – of these crimes.
'We are already deciding who should be in jail and who should not be in jail as if our criminal legal system is perfect, as if our criminal legal system always gets this right,' Rep. Justin Pearson, a Memphis Democrat, said. '… Taking somebody's liberty is not a small thing.'
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican, sponsored the resolution and took the unusual step of stepping down from the dais to present it from the well.
Sexton said the removal of the right to bail would not be automatic because of the judge's discretion in applying the law.
He said he also hopes this proposal could address the artificial inflation of bail and the practice of trumping up charges to raise bail to a point that a defendant cannot pay and must remain incarcerated before trial. It 'sets an even playing field between those of all income levels based on the crime as well, in my view,' Sexton said.
Reps. G.A. Hardaway and Antonio Parkinson, both Memphis Democrats, spoke in support of the ballot measure. Parkinson said his constituency is 'sick' of violent crime in their community.
Pearson and Nashville Democratic Rep. Vincent Dixie said leaving a defendant's right to bail to a judge's discretion does not assuage concerns.
'Judges are imperfect people with their own biases as well that they bring into the courtroom, and there can again be a disproportionate harm on poor folks, a disproportionate harm on Black folks, on Latino folks,' Pearson said.
Sexton said this line of thinking minimizes trust in judges, who are often elected.
'You deny bail and keep people … incarcerated who you're afraid to put out on the streets,' he said. 'Everybody else you should be giving bail to. They should have reasonable bail.'
Judges are imperfect people with their own biases as well that they bring into the courtroom, and there can again be a disproportionate harm on poor folks, a disproportionate harm on Black folks, on Latino folks.
– Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis
The proposed amendment has seen support from the Tennessee Sheriff's Association and the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference.
Pearson agreed that the crimes included in the proposed amendment are heinous.
'But when we talk about safety and protecting people, we also have to protect the people who are being sentenced who have not committed the crime for which they are being accused,' he said.
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