Check out the Texas Judicial Council's legislative recommendations related to pretrial detention/bail reform, and the description of the risk assessment instrument they're recommending to legislators in committee hearings.
From the handout: "A recent study showed that defendants who spent three or more days in jail were more likely to lose employment, report serious financial difficulty, experience issues with residential stability and less likely to be able to support dependent children."
And a mere three days of pretrial detention, for many defendants, would be a welcome respite from the reality: "Nearly 20% of felony cases take more than a year to dispose and more than 50% percent of misdemeanors remain pending over six months – meaning individuals held in jail while awaiting trial stay for considerable amounts of time."
With Gov. Abbott having entered the mix over the summer, vowing to name bail-reform legislation after a dead state trooper whose killer he believes shouldn't have been released on bail, one of the shortest distances to passing bail reform would be if a meeting of the minds between Gov. Abbott, himself a former Texas Supreme Court Justice, and current TSC Chief Justice Nathan Hecht could form the basis for consensus among statewide elected officials. So the details of what the Judicial Council proposes on this score are important, and likely form the basis for bail-reform legislation next year.
Some of the things Gov. Abbott wants done regarding preventive detention would require a constitutional amendment, which requires a two-thirds legislative vote in both chambers, as opposed to a simple majority in the House and 3/5 in the Senate, as is required for regular legislation.
With Gov. Abbott's sudden interest, bail reform is shaping up to be a major #cjreform topic during the 86th Texas Legislature. However, even if something like SB 1338 from last session is able to pass this time - and given the motivated fervor and deep pockets of bail-industry opposition, that's not a sure thing - measures that require changing the constitution may still end up being hard-fought votes.
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9 comments:
I'm no big fan of the bail bond industry but I suspect this notion that people who spend more than three days in jail have regular jobs and are supporting their dependents is pretty much a bunch of malarkey.
You think people who can't post bond in three days must not have regular jobs or support their families?
Malarkey.
Interestingly enough, a 4-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department was able to bail out on a $300K bond, today, despite committing a homicide. Isn't it funny how it's a "just us" system, and not one that works for all of the citizens in the state?
The female that just committed a homicide was placed on paid leave by the police department before the $300,000 bail was covered on her behalf. Does the risk assessment call for her to forfeit her guns now?
But she didn't commit homicide, just manslaughter, obviously the prosecutor is trying to scare her into a plea /sarcasm
She may or may not have committed "murder," 5:32, but she definitely committed "homicide," which is simply when one homo sapien kills another.
With Gov. Abbott vowing to name bail reform after a dead State Trooper the Dallas cop has kind of train wrecked his whole idea with her $300K homicide bail bond! Is she still packin’ now?
Interestingly enough to me is that I saw NO mention of her being slapped with an ankle monitor which would be a given with any other defendant with such a charge. Nor do I think she is being required to check in with any probation officer as they must do when on a monitor. Other then the bond I saw no other conditions of bail being placed upon her. Strange..
She must be low risk
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