We believe that HB 20 by Murr will reach the floor of the House today. We have started a Call to Action for all members of the House.
You can go to the campaign page directly by CLICKING HERE.
Here are the details for this Call to Action:
Subject- HB 20 by Murr
Who will Receive the Emails- All members of the Texas House
What will the email say-
"Dear Representative,
A "hot mess" is used to describe something that is particularly disorganized or chaotic. It can also describe an attractive situation that is just barely keeping it together.
HB 20 is a hot mess.
Proponents of the bill claim that HB 20 will allow counties to keep more dangerous people in jail. This is false. Section 2 of HB 20 is based upon a constitutional amendment that has not even been voted out of committee. Additionally, the most recent committee substitute for HJR 4 has significant amendments planned which means that Section 2 in HB 20 and the HJR 4 language will no longer match. The reality is that HB 20 is not ready for prime time.
Next, proponents claim that the bill will make setting bail more uniform across the state of Texas. This is also not correct. The driving force for the push for bail reform is coming from two factors: a drive to protect the poor and a drive to address ail overcrowding in our largest counties. HB 20 does not address either of these factors. First, regarding the poor, the 5th Circuit in O'Donnell set out procedures for protecting the poor. HB 20 does not incorporate these procedures into Texas law. Although, the bill allows the use of bail schedules, it does not incorporate the procedures set out by the 5th Circuit. Second, HB 20 does not address the root problem of bail reform regarding how to process large groups of people through the jails of our largest counties effectively and cost effectively. HB 20 mandates the a risk assessment be used and reviewed by a magistrate before anyone is released from jail. This is essentially a mandate for individual magistration that some of our largest counties are not currently doing. What will the result be then? More chaos!
Finally, HB 20 requires training for any judge in the state who magistrates certain crimes. This is a well intentioned idea that will be impossible to implement. The bill requires that a judge undergo training and "demonstrate competence" before being certified. Therefore, the bill does not just require continuning education training, but requires that each judge demonstrate competence. How exactly will this be done? The bill leaves this totally up to the discretion of OCA. Also, limiting who can magistrate in the face of requirements from the federal courts regarding individual magistration within 48 hours of arrest will cause more litigation not less.
HB 20 will not make the system better. It will cause further chaos in our largest counties. Please vote no on HB 20 today.”
Once again, you can go to the Call to Action page to send this email to the committee members by CLICKING HERE.
This link will display our Call to Action Campaign page. Please click on the link to the campaign and fill out your identifying information and then submit the email and it will automatically be sent to every member of the House. Also, you can forward this Call to Action to your employees, family and friends and ask them to also go to the linked page and send the email as well. You can forward this email to friends and family and ask them to send emails as well.
If you get any response please let us know at the following email address: [email protected].