Latest news with #SenateJointResolution5
Yahoo
2 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Proposal to automatically deny bail to repeat offenders falls in Texas House
The Texas House on Monday rejected a last-minute proposal asking voters to amend the state Constitution to automatically deny bail to certain repeat offenders, with Democrats banding together to defeat a final part a long-running push to jail more dangerous defendants before trial. Senate Joint Resolution 87, part of a broader package stiffening the state's bail laws, fell short of the 100 votes necessary to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, winning votes from all present Republicans and just nine Democrats. It failed, 93 to 32, with 19 Democrats declining to take a position by marking themselves 'present' or not at all. The House will have one more chance to adopt the proposal tomorrow, though its path to 100 votes remained unclear. The House approved the centerpiece of the bail package and one of Gov. Greg Abbott's top priorities, Senate Joint Resolution 5, last week. Under the state Constitution, almost everyone who is arrested has the right to be released on bail. The limited exceptions are people charged with capital murder and those accused of certain repeat felonies or bail violations. According to the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court, bail cannot be excessive, and pretrial detention largely should not be considered the default unless the defendant is a flight or safety risk, as criminal defendants are still legally presumed innocent. SJR 87 would have automatically detained and denied bail to anyone accused of certain felonies if they had previously been convicted of a felony or were out on bond at the time of the alleged offense. The resolution would have required a judge to find 'probable cause' — a relatively low burden of proof — that the defendant committed one of the listed offenses, which include murder, aggravated assault and human trafficking. Proponents of the measure, which sprinted through the Senate this month, argued that requiring automatic denial of bail was necessary to rein in judges letting dangerous defendants out on bond and to protect the public from people who commit more crimes while out of jail before trial. 'If we do not pass it, we will not be able to properly constrain judges who would release certain very dangerous people on the streets of our cities, our towns and our counties in the state of Texas,' Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville and the proposal's House sponsor, said on the floor Monday. 'That is the moral conundrum we are in: Are we willing to allow the law to remain unchanged and put more people at risk?' The House agreed unanimously to name the measure, 'Jocelyn's Law,' after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houstonian whose alleged killers were found to have entered the United States illegally from Venezuela. (The suspects were out on federal custody, not on bail, at the time of the crime.) 'We're talking about an effective class of people that amounts to 0.0084% of our population,' Little said. 'That is a number that is so infinitesimally small that it will not matter to you unless you are Paul Castro and your son David is shot in the head on the freeway in Houston for no reason at all. It is a number that will not matter to you unless you are Alexis Nungaray and your daughter is gone forever.' Democrats and civil rights advocates denounced the measure, arguing that it obliterated defendants' due process rights and judges' discretion to consider whether someone is a flight or public safety risk. 'You have a prior conviction and someone accuses you of something new — straight to jail,' said Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, the top Democratic negotiator on bail issues this session. 'Not only have you not been convicted of the new accusation, but nothing even has to be considered in terms of your dangerousness or your flight risk.' 'We don't do that anywhere, ever, for any other kind of bail setting,' he added. 'We never have, and we shouldn't do it now.' Moody argued that Senate Republicans were 'moving the goalposts on bail' and trying to force SJR 87 through in the final days of session after months of uphill negotiations to secure a bipartisan agreement on the main proposal of the bail package, Senate Joint Resolution 5, which was adopted overwhelmingly last week. As Moody spoke against the measure, Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, lined up at the chamber's back microphone to ask questions in opposition to the proposal. His favorite refrain about the Senate, as members well know, goes, 'If they won't respect us, they need to expect us.' SJR 87 'was filed just days ago at the end of session and rocketed over to the House,' Moody said, highlighting several bipartisan House criminal justice bills that have languished in the Senate. 'This just isn't about the bad policy contained in SJR 87. This is about the dignity of this chamber, and I see Mr. Dutton standing at the back mic. Mr. Dutton, this is an 'expect us' moment.' First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bail reform package: Reps discuss key changes
The Brief The Texas Legislature passed a bail reform package. Freshman representatives Mitch Little and A.J. Louderback played important roles in negotiations. Parts of the package will go up for a vote in Texas for approval. AUSTIN - A landmark bail reform plan is headed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for approval. The initial passage of the package, which includes constitutional amendments, was somewhat watered down from the original bills. That was done to help win enough support from Democrats to reach a critical 100-vote level to allow for a public vote. Two freshman House members, former Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback (R-Victoria) and high-profile defense attorney Mitch Little (R-Lewisville), played key roles in the bail reform package. Both legislators talked with FOX's Rudy Koski. What they're saying "It's massive. I think we have the ability to transform some of the violent crime that's going on in our cities," said Rep. Little. "The great thing about Senate Joint Resolution 5 is that it's going to allow judges the discretion to deny bail in cases where somebody is proven by a preponderance of the evidence to be a flight risk or by clear and convincing evidence to an ongoing risk to public safety on our most violent crimes." He says one of the key components of the bill is blocking certain magistrates from reducing bonds set by district courts. A previous version of Senate Bill 664 required judges to write a letter to inform the public about why a suspect was being granted bail. As part of the negotiation process that has changed. "There's going to be a required finding if a judge denies bail. That way the state has the ability to appeal that decision in a very expedited appeal to the Court of Appeals and leave those violent offenders in jail pending that decision," said Little. Little says bail bills like this one have been upheld. "What we've done in Texas is try to bring it within the confines of the Bail Reform Act of 1984, the federal law. There's no automatic right to bail under federal law, it's just if you are granted bail, it should not be excessive. So we're trying to strike the right balance between denying very serious violent offenders bail and making sure that we do not do violence to civil rights," he said. What they're saying Rep. Louderback says he's not surprised that bail reform has finally come after years of failed attempts. "I think the violent crimes here in our state have risen. I think people have had enough," he said. "It'll be one of the strongest bond denials in the country. So it's a great move for us to put something like this together. It's a package of four bills right now." Louderback calls the package a "tremendous piece of legislation." "It's a great move to support all the victims that we have here. Where some defendants have beat them back out of the parking lot before," he said. Louderback says he's confident the package would stand up to a court challenge. "I think so. I'm confident about it. I think the entire country, not just Texas, will look at this very seriously," he said. You can watch Texas: The Issue Is Sunday nights on FOX and anytime on FOX LOCAL or the Texas: The Texas Issue Is Podcast. The Source Information in this article comes from past FOX reporting and interviews with Texas House members Mitch Little and A.J. Louderback.
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
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House supports Abbott's bail priorities—minus ban on bail for undocumented people
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — On Tuesday morning, the Texas House overwhelmingly voted to support one of Gov. Greg Abbott's top priorities of this session — bail reform. However, their votes indicated a desire to strip one proposed element of the reform — to automatically deny bail for people illegally in the country charged with certain felonies. First, the House voted 122-20 to advance an amended version of Senate Bill 9, an encompassing bill reducing personal bond options, requiring judges to review appointed magistrates bond amounts and allowing prosecutors to protest bond decisions. Then, the House voted 133-8 to advance an amended version of Senate Joint Resolution 5, a proposed constitutional amendment which would require judges to deny bail for certain felony charges if judges feel the accused is either a flight risk or a threat to the community. Finally, 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. While all three bills advanced to a third reading, SJR 5 and SJR 1 will require 100 votes to pass as a two-thirds threshold is required to pass a constitutional amendment. Two weeks ago, Abbott held a news conference urging Democratic support of his bail reform package. However, he didn't seem optimistic. 'There is progress, but not sufficient progress being made with discussions,' Abbott said on May 7. 'I will tell you this… the amendment version that has the elements I laid out today, as well as a few more elements, I don't know how many Democrats have actually seen that yet, so they have not yet been put to the test.' Those changes appeared to be enough. The primary change was requiring judges to find a defendant is likely to willfully skip their court date or is a threat to their community. Judges would have to make their determination on the 'preponderance of evidence'– more likely than not–standard after Rep. Mitch Little's, R-Lewisville, amendment to change it from a 'clear and convincing evidence' standard. 'SJR 5 has come a long way. It isn't perfect, but it's a good balance that's going to get us to the right results in most cases.' State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said. 'As the bill came to us, it was a 'may deny bail' with no burden of proof on the state and no right to counsel. It also swept up poor people who might miss court due to things like lack of transportation, instead of focusing on flight risk. It had some procedural problems. That all got worse in certain proposals that we saw that applied to a wide range of offenses that would have flipped the burden onto the defendant to prove that they should be released. Quite frankly, some of those proposals were Gulag bills.' Moody, who is listed as the only Democratic House sponsor on the bill, says their version is a good fix to the problems on the extreme high end of the bail system. 'It guarantees counsel in these bail hearings. It focuses on only willful non-appearance. It applies only to serious charges and requires consideration of the specific facts behind them. It's true that this is a shall deny bail when those things are proven, but the reality is that's already happening,' Moody said. 'If the state proves a person is a danger or a flight risk at a hearing where the defendant is represented, that's a person who should be locked up pending trial.' Even the Bail Project, an advocacy group dedicated to to ending the cash bail system, had a positive outlook on the changes. 'The Senate's version of SJR 5 threatened to unravel core legal protections and open the floodgates for unchecked pretrial incarceration,' the Bail Project's Deputy Director of Policy said in a statement. 'But today, the House took a meaningful step in the right direction by passing a version of the amendment that restores critical safeguards. High legal standards to deny release and the right to counsel when pretrial liberty is at stake are essential to protecting due process and preventing widespread abuse of pretrial detention. While our concerns about threats to pretrial liberty remain, the House version reflects a more responsible approach. Lawmakers must stand firm in conference and reject any attempts to strip these hard-fought protections.' If the Texas House is going to pass SJR 1, they're going to need to convince ten more Democrats to vote for the bill on the third and final reading. According to Texas Legislature Online's unofficial tally, 86 of the 88 House Republicans voted in favor with Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, not voting and State Rep. Richard Hayes, R-Lake Dallas, being absent. On the other side of the aisle, Moody and State Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, were the only two Democrats to vote in favor of the proposed amendment. SJR 1 defines an 'illegal alien' as someone who entered the country without inspection or someone admitted legally who failed to maintain their legal non-immigrant status. The amendment would require judges to hold 'illegal aliens' without bail if a judge or magistrate finds probable cause on a long list of felonies — most of them violent or sexual in nature. 'Had we passed this constitutional amendment years ago, there'd be little boys and girls still alive today who were tragically killed,' State Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, said. Smithee is the primary House sponsor on SJR 1. 'Consider the rights of the innocent people who deserve to be protected from the senseless acts of violence.' SJR 1 is unofficially known as 'Jocelyn's Law,' named after 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was killed in Houston last June. The two men charged with Nungaray's murder were Venezuelan nationals in the country illegally. Jocelyn's mother Alexis was invited to Abbott's 'State of the State' address, where he declared bail reform an emergency item. 'Illegal immigrants who are arrested should be considered a flight risk, denied bail and turned over to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement,]' Abbott said during the address. On Tuesday, the Democratic House Caucus got their chance to respond, both through their votes and through a fiery speech by State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg. 'This is a tough one. It's tough. But there's a level of logic here that's missing. One of the most fundamental things a judge considers when he's going to determine whether you have the right to bail is whether you're a flight risk, but that's just one. The second one is danger to your community,' Canales said. 'So as I listen to this, okay we're going to say 'you're fundamentally a flight risk because you're here illegally,' I would tell you, I'm more worried about how big a danger you are to the community. And those crimes committed by an American citizen don't make that person any less dangerous. So think about it. I'm voting no because the hypocrisy of it doesn't withstand the smell test… You wanna get tough on crime, let's deny all of them bail. Vote no on this piece of crap.' Both SJR 1 and SJR 5 need 100 votes on third reading to pass. If either proposal gets through the legislature, Texas voters will have the final say on Nov. 4. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
