Texas House Democrats block bill denying bail to alleged repeat offenders

AUSTIN – The Houston Chronicle reports that House Democrats on Tuesday blocked a last-minute push by Republicans to automatically deny bail to people accused of repeatedly committing violent crimes, striking a blow to one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature issues. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution would have denied pretrial release to those accused of nine violent crimes, including murder, aggravated assault and trafficking, if they had previously been convicted of those crimes. It was a late addition to a package of bail reforms that lawmakers spent months negotiating. That included a proposed constitutional amendment to give judges significantly more power to deny bail to people accused of certain crimes, which passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this month.

But the latest proposal, by state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican, was filed just two weeks ago as Abbott began pushing for lawmakers to force judges to prohibit pretrial release to defendants accused of several violent offenses. The governor has long sought to restrict bail, accusing “activist judges” in Democratic cities like Houston of being too quick to grant pretrial release. He declared bail reform an emergency item this session. The state Constitution currently prevents judges from denying bail to first-time offenders other than those accused of capital murder and for whom the state is seeking the death penalty. Democrats said the repeat offender proposal flouted the U.S. Constitution and would set a dangerous precedent, effectively putting those who are simply accused of committing a crime behind bars until they are tried. “It doesn’t matter what the facts are. If you have a certain history, then someone accusing you gets you locked up awaiting trial — automatically, maybe for years,” said state Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who worked on negotiations on the bail package. “That’s wrong and immoral.” House Republicans pointed to high-profile murders as evidence the amendment was necessary. They named the legislation after Jocelyn Nungaray, a Houston girl whose death became a driving force behind President Donald Trump’s White House campaign against “migrant crime” last year.