Under a proposed constitutional amendment, judges could deny bail outright for people...
Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerwhether to allow judges to deny bail outright in a wider variety of cases, a change aimed at locking up more defendants accused of violent crimes as they await trial.Under the proposed constitutional amendment, judges could deny bail
The measure, known as Senate Joint Resolution 44, passed on a 30-1 vote. It now heads to the House, where it will need the support of two-thirds of the chamber to be placed on the statewide November ballot.Harris County Republicans hope focus on crime, bail can break winless streak in judicial races Prior versions of Huffman’s constitutional amendment failed to clear the two-thirds threshold in the House two years ago, when the Legislature last met. The lower chamber gave initial approval to an earlier version in the spring of 2021, but it died on the final day of the session when Democrats fled the Capitol to thwart a Republican-backed voting bill.
State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said Monday that he agrees judges should be allowed to deny bail to “defendants that pose dangerous threats to our communities,” but worried that the changes would “fall heavily on Black and brown communities.” The measure goes further than a Huffman-authored bail overhaul passed in 2021, Senate Bill 6, which sets limits only on no-cost and low-cost bonds — meaning those who can afford to post bail can still do so, while only those without enough cash are forced to stay behind bars.
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