Latest news with #Jocelyn'sLaw
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Abbott signs bail reform in to law in Houston
HOUSTON (KXAN) — Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bail reform bill in Houston Tuesday surrounded by elected officials, bail reform advocates and victims' families. The signing began at 2 p.m. at Crime Stoppers of Houston, with several state officials who attended, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state Sen. Joan Huffman, state Rep. John Smithee, Crime Stoppers of Houston CEO Rania Mankarious, Crime Stoppers of Houston Director of Victim Services and Advocacy Andy Kahan and others. House supports Abbott's bail priorities—minus ban on bail for undocumented people Although the Texas House overwhelmingly voted to support bail reform, the chamber did not pass a proposed element that would have automatically denied bail for people who were illegally in the country and charged with certain felonies. The House voted 122-20 to advance an amended version of Senate Bill 9, which encompasses bail reducing personal bond options. It requires judges to review appointed magistrates bond amounts, as well as allows prosecutors to protest bond decisions. Jocelyn's Law fails to earn enough votes in Texas House Then, the House voted 133-8 advance an amended version of Senate Joint Resolution 5, a proposed constitutional amendment requiring judges to deny bail for certain felony charges if judges feel the accused is either a flight risk or a threat to the community. Last, the House voted 88-50 to advance an amended version of Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would deny bail for those accused for 'illegal aliens' charged with certain felonies. However, the resolution fell 13 votes shy of the 100 votes needed to pass the Texas House. SJR 1, also known as 'Jocelyn's Law,' is named after 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston. She was allegedly killed by a pair of men illegally in the country last year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas House set to vote on bail restrictions for people illegally in the country accused of violent crimes
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Senate Joint Resolution 1 — a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent bail for those not lawfully in the country accused of certain crimes — faces a crucial vote in the House on Wednesday, hours before a midnight deadline. Known as 'Jocelyn's Law', after 12-year-old Houston girl Jocelyn Nungaray was allegedly killed by a pair of men illegally in the country last year, SJR 1 is a priority of Gov. Greg Abbott. 'Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk, denied bail and turned over to [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)],' Abbott said during his state of the state address in early February. While the Texas legislature has passed tangential laws designed to uphold Abbott's vision — such as Senate Bill 8 which requires local law enforcement agencies to partner with ICE on their 287(g) detention program — SJR 1 kept getting stalled in the Texas House. The proposed amendment took nearly three months to reach a House floor vote on May 19, passing to a third reading with an 88-50 vote. However, that's not enough for constitutional amendments which require a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of the legislature and a majority vote from the public. After failing to get the required 100 votes, SJR 1 was postponed. And postponed again. In total, it's been postponed seven times before Wednesday. It passed the Senate 28-2 all the way back on Feb. 19, but Senate Democrats had reservations about the bill. The senators worried about how broad the language is concerning the definition of 'illegal alien.' As it is written, Jocelyn's Law defines an illegal alien as anyone who entered the United States without inspection, or anyone who entered the country as a nonimmigrant and failed to maintain that status before they are accused of a crime. A nonimmigrant can be any foreign person allowed to enter the country for a certain amount of time and for a certain purpose, such as a student visa. The senators argue the language should be refined to 'ensure that those who may have initially entered the country without authorization but have since gone through the appropriate legal processes to gain lawful status are not impacted by this legislation.' SJR 1 is modeled off of the United States Congress' Laken Riley Act. It requires judges to deny bail for those defined as 'illegal aliens' if they're accused of committing one of these crimes: First-degree felony criminal solicitation Murder Capital murder Aggravated kidnapping Trafficking of persons Continuous trafficking of persons Indecency with a child Sexual assualt Aggravated sexual assault Felony injury to a child Aggravated robbery First-degree felony burglary with intent to: Continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual Indecency with a child Sexual assualt Aggravated sexual assault Prohibited sexual conduct Aggravated promotion of prostitution Compelling prostitution Possession or promotion of child pornography A felony where: A deadly weapon was used or brandished The accused was a party to the felony where a deadly weapon was used or brandished A felony under the election code An offense involving the manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance with intent to delivery An offense involving the manufacturing, delivery or possession of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone, if the accused had already been convicted of committing a similar crime A judge or magistrate must deny bail if they determine there is probable cause the person engaged in the accused crime at a hearing. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is an immigration attorney and has been following SJR 1. She is concerned that local criminal courts will have to make decisions on someone's immigration status, a job she feels is better adjudicated in a federal court. 'Those are two independent systems and they should be independent because immigration is complicated and it's federal law,' Lincoln-Goldfinch said. 'I've represented people who've been accused of being terrorists just because they have tattoos. I've seen firsthand the way detention can be politicized. I, personally, do not trust the fact that that would not happen at the state level.' The House and Senate must pass all bills on third reading by midnight on Wednesday. Any bills not passed are considered 'dead.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas House advances bail reform package while immigration-related proposal faces challenges
The Texas House on Monday and Tuesday advanced a package of legislation that would significantly change the way bail is administered in the state — but one key part of the package hit a snag. The four pieces of legislation aim to make it easier to keep some defendants behind bars without bail as they await trial. Proponents say the bills will help keep Texans safe, citing instances in which defendants have allegedly committed violent crimes while out on bail for other charges. Opponents, however, have argued the bills are unjust and could further burden an already stressed pretrial system in Texas. Senate Joint Resolution 5, a proposed constitutional amendment to give judges and magistrates wider discretion to deny bail for suspects charged with certain violent crimes like murder, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and other serious offenses, easily advanced in the House on Monday. The Senate passed the legislation by a wide margin in February, and the House gave its nod to the resolution with a 133-8 vote. The Senate is expected to agree with House's changes to the resolution before Texas voters will have the opportunity to decide if it becomes law in a November election. The House added safeguards to the bill that were absent in the Senate version, including an elevated legal standard for denying bail and the right to counsel in bail-setting hearings. Another proposed constitutional amendment to keep defendants charged with a felony who are in the U.S. without legal authorization faced more scrutiny, however, and appeared to be on life support in the House on Tuesday afternoon. If approved by the Legislature and Texas voters, Senate Joint Resolution 1, or "Jocelyn's Law," would keep persons without authority to be in the U.S. who are charged with certain felonies in jail until trial, barring judges and magistrates from setting bail in those cases. The proposal is named for 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, whose body was found in June in a Houston bayou after being bound, sexually assaulted and strangled to death allegedly by two men believed to be in the U.S. illegally, according to authorities. More: Denying bail? Why a Texas Senate panel approved reform plan to keep some defendants in jail The Senate overwhelmingly passed the proposed constitutional amendment in February, but sponsors of the measure had not yet secured the constitutionally-required two-thirds majority of House members for the proposal to prevail by Tuesday afternoon. The lower chamber on Monday voted 88-50 to advance SJR 1 to a second vote, when it will require 100 supporters to head to Texas voters. Currently, judges may only deny bail under specific circumstances prescribed by the Texas Constitution's Bill of Rights. Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, who authored the legislation, has said the current constitutional requirement to offer bail to some defendants, even if a judge might find them to be dangerous, is a massive public safety risk. Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, sponsored the bills in the House. He said during debate on SJR 1 that the bail reforms are a matter of life and death, calling the proposals some of the most important pieces of legislation he's voted on in his four decades in the House. "Had we passed this constitutional amendment six years ago, there would be little boys and girls still alive today who were tragically killed," Smithee said Monday. "I can promise you this: If we adopt this amendment and the voters approve it, it will save innocent human life. Period." While the bail reform proposals are generally noncontroversial among lawmakers, SJR 1 garnered some blowback from Democratic House members who said the measure is discriminatory and redundant with federal law, which requires the detention of non-U.S. nationals charged with certain crimes. Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, cast a "reluctant" yes vote on the resolution. He said the narrower House version of the proposal constitutes good public policy, but he warned of the dangers of the "ugly" rhetoric that often surrounds immigration issues. "From Twitter to town halls, the language around immigration is toxic, it's dehumanizing, and in some cases, it's nakedly racist," Moody said. "This type of scapegoating led to a mass murder in my hometown just a few years ago. Since then, that rhetoric has gotten worse, not better, and that makes it very hard to deal with just the policy on the paper." Others, like Edinburg Democratic Rep. Terry Canales, argued the bill unfairly targets immigrants when its provisions should apply to all allegedly dangerous criminals, regardless of immigration status. He urged his colleagues to "vote no on this piece of crap." Related legislation, Senate Bill 9 and SB 40, also passed the House on Tuesday. The Senate will need to approve the House's changes to those bills before they head to the governor's desk to become law. SB 9 is a comprehensive bail reform bill that would change several things about the bail system, including increasing the amount of information available to judges when setting bail. It would also require judges who do not deny bail for certain violent charges to provide a written statement on the reasoning for their decision. SB 40 would prevent public money from being transferred to charitable bail organizations like the Bail Project. Texas' top elected officials have called for lawmakers to fast-track bail reform legislation this session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the three-term Republican who provides over the Senate, identified bail reform as one of his top legislative priorities, and Gov. Greg Abbott designated it an emergency item during his biennial State of the State address Feb. 2. Abbott has consistently voiced support for the measures on social media, firing off a spate of tweets in recent weeks urging lawmakers to vote in favor of the legislation. The governor made an impromptu visit to the House just as it was finishing up its daily floor session late Monday afternoon, ostensibly to shore up support for bail reform and other legislative priorities. Speaking briefly with reporters on the House floor, Abbott was clearly pleased with the passage of much of the bail reform package. "We've been working hard on this for a long time," the governor said after chatting informally with several House members. "Too many people have been murdered because of the broken bail system that we've had. "It needs to get done." Staff writer John C. Moritz contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas House OKs bail reform bills; immigration-related proposal stalls
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas Senate passes legislation to keep some defendants in jail without bail. Here's why.
The Texas Senate, by nearly unanimous votes, has passed a package of bail reform legislation that would authorize judges to deny bail to people without legal status to be in the U.S. who are charged with a felony as well as for anyone accused of committing violent crimes. If approved by the Legislature and Texas voters, Senate Joint Resolution 1, or "Jocelyn's Law," would keep persons without authority to be in the U.S. who are charged with felonies behind bars until trial. The upper chamber passed the proposed constitutional amendment by 29-2 vote Wednesday. Another proposal, SJR 5, would give judges wider discretion to deny bail for certain violent charges like murder and aggravated sexual assault. The Senate passed that proposed constitutional amendment by a 28-2 vote Thursday. Under the Texas Constitution's Bill of Rights, judges may only deny bail under specific circumstances. Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, who authored the legislation, said the current constitutional requirement to offer bail to some defendants, even if a judge might find them to be dangerous, is a massive public safety risk. "Since January 2021 … there have been at least 162 homicide cases filed in Harris County, Texas, for defendants released on one or more bonds at the time of a new murder offense," Huffman said Thursday on the Senate floor. "Think about that — 162 people needlessly killed, families grieving and suffering because this Legislature failed to enact common-sense, fair legislation." It was not immediately clear how many of those cases included defendants who were released on bail after being charged with a violent felony. The Senate adopted similar proposals in 2021 and 2023, but those died in the House. Four out of the five pieces of bail reform legislation Huffman authored were passed out of committee last week during a hearing that included emotional testimony from surviving family members of homicide victims. More: Denying bail? Why a Texas Senate panel approved reform plan to keep some defendants in jail Witnesses at the committee hearing included the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, after whom SJR 1 is named. Nungaray's body was found in a Houston bayou in June after she was allegedly bound, sexually assaulted and strangled to death by two men who are believed to be in the U.S. illegally, according to authorities. Though the two defendants remain in jail awaiting trial in Harris County with bail set at $10 million each, Huffman argued that giving them a chance to post bail at all could pose a problem. "These two men were not denied bail for the murder of Jocelyn, even (with) the preponderance of the evidence that existed at arraignment and the fact that their illegal alien status presented a major flight risk," Huffman said. "If these men had had the financial means, they could be out on the streets today." Opponents of the Senate's bail reform package said Wednesday during a call with reporters that the legislation is unjust and could further burden an already stressed pretrial system in Texas. "Not only is this bill unnecessary — judges can and already do detain people pretrial without bail — but it is also dangerous. It threatens to not only undermine public safety by subjecting more people to incarceration, but also to undermine due process protections and increase taxpayer burdens," said Emma Stammen, a policy strategist with the Bail Project. Organizations like the Bail Project, which provides bail assistance to low-income defendants, are advocating for bail reform that is opposite to what the Senate passed this week. Stammen said the organization supports proposals like House Bill 799 by Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, that would largely eliminate cash bail for defendants charged with a misdemeanor or state jail felony. The bill would require magistrate judges to release those defendants pretrial unless the judge believes they would pose a public safety or flight risk. "This bill is really important, because more than half of Texans who are held in custody before trial have been accused of low-level, nonviolent offenses, and the system in Texas really should be focusing on dangerous people who actually pose a threat to society," Stammen said. The Senate passed four bail reform bills Wednesday and Thursday by a significant majority. All four now head to the House of Representatives. The two proposed constitutional amendments would need the support of two-thirds of the House and a majority of Texas voters to become law. Senate Joint Resolution 1: This would amend the Texas Constitution to prevent defendants charged with a felony and suspected of being in the U.S. illegally from being released on bail. Senate Joint Resolution 5: This proposed constitutional amendment would allow judges to deny bail to defendants charged with certain violent crimes, like murder and aggravated sexual assault. Senate Bill 9: This bill would change a number of things about the bail system, including increasing the amount of information available to judges when setting bail. It would also require judges who do not deny bail for certain violent charges to provide a written statement on the reasoning for their decision. Senate Bill 40: This bill would prevent public money from being transferred to charitable bail organizations like the Bail Project. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate OKs bills to keep some defendants in jail without bail
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Yahoo
Texas teen charged with murder released after bond reduced from $800K to $100 per charge: 'This is outrageous'
A Texas teen accused of murder was released from police custody after his bond was drastically reduced from $800,000 to $100 per charge. Stephon Martin Morson, 19, was released from the Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas, on Saturday after he posted bail. Morson is accused in the shooting death of 20-year-old Keshawn Cage, who police found with a gunshot wound to the head back in October. The Travis County Jail told Fox News Digital that Morson was booked on Nov. 6, 2024, and charged with murder and tamper/fabricate physical evidence. Texas Da To Request Reversal Of Pardon For Former Army Soldier Who Fatally Shot Blm Protester His bond was originally set at $800,000, but it was recently dropped to $100 for each charge, for a total of $200, with the conditions that Morson wear a GPS monitor, remain under house arrest and not contact the family of the victim or potential witnesses, CBS Austin first reported. Read On The Fox News App Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock told Fox News Digital that Morson's punishment was "not enough." "For a man accused of murder to have his bond reduced so low that he's able to walk free is a slap in the face to Austinites who could potentially become the next victim. The revolving door of violent criminals constantly released back onto the streets of Austin is exactly why we have seen violent crime increase," Bullock said. He added: "The District Attorney, County Attorney, and Judges here have clearly demonstrated they are not interested in looking after the safety of Austinites nor working with law enforcement. All they are interested in is their own political agenda. We've seen criminals released on bond who, while free, kill someone. The real question is when will enough be enough?" Bullock said this is not the first time Travis County judges and magistrates have drastically reduced bond for a person accused of murder or sexual assault. Texas Judge Seeks To Keep Suspected Serial Killer Behind Bars For Life: 'He Never, Ever Had Remorse' "This is not exclusive to just one judge. This has happened across multiple different courts," Bullock said. "We've had some where they may not reoffend, but then we've had others who do reoffend. People that get out on bond and they murder someone else when they're already accused of a violent crime." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also commented on Morson's release and called the move "outrageous." "This is outrageous. It's why I made bail reform an Emergency Item," Abbott wrote in a post on X. Texas Leaders Draft 'Jocelyn's Law' After 12-Year-old's Murder, Would Deny Bail For Capital Murder Suspects Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also backed Abbott and said he is ready to play "hardball" to keep violent offenders from being released on bail during a special session last week to pass a bail reform package. On Wednesday, the bills cleared the first of many obstacles to becoming law. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee passed the bail reform package by a vote of 6-0. "I'm grateful that Gov. Abbott declared bail reform an emergency item for the current legislative session. Too many innocent people, both citizens and law enforcement officers, have become targets of criminals due to irresponsible bail amounts that allow violent criminals to go free," Bullock said. "We are a nation of law and order, but activist judges and prosecutors that are interested in their own agenda rather than the law are eroding that principle." Crime victims' advocates in Texas have been trying to get tougher bail legislation on the books for years, especially in certain cases involving egregious crimes. In years past, many criminal offenders in Harris County were released on low bond or no bond at all, with some going on to reoffend, sometimes violently, according to Rania Mankarious, the CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston. Fox News Digital reached out to the Travis County District Attorney's Office but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report. Original article source: Texas teen charged with murder released after bond reduced from $800K to $100 per charge: 'This is outrageous'
