He wants to hold criminals accountable while democrats want to lower or do away with bail.
Via Texas Tribune:
Gov. Greg Abbott wants the Texas Legislature to pass a bail reform law next year.
On Tuesday, the Republican governor announced his proposed Damon Allen Act, named in honor of a 41-year-old highway patrol trooper who was gunned down last Thanksgiving during a traffic stop near Fairfield, about 60 miles east of Waco. The suspect, 33-year-old Dabrett Black, was out of jail on a $15,500 bond at the time after allegedly assaulting a Smith County deputy.
After his murder, Allen’s widow, Kasey, approached Abbott about the issue. Abbott said it was because of her that he is supporting bail reforms in the next session, which begins in January.
“Because of a flawed system, Kasey was robbed of a husband; her children were robbed of a father,” Abbott said at a Department of Public Safety office in Waco. “Texas must ensure that something like this never happens again.”
The judge who set Black’s bond told WFAA after Allen’s death that he didn’t know of Black’s previous convictions at the time — which included a 2015 assault on another deputy — and wished he’d handled the case differently. In October, after Black was already out of jail, his bond was increased to $400,000 and an arrest warrant was later issued.
In his proposal to change the bail system — a mechanism used to ensure criminal defendants show up to their court hearings – Abbott said bond amounts would be set to better match the threat of accused criminals. His changes would include:
Having judges and magistrates who set bail be informed of the defendant’s full criminal history and take that into account when setting bond amounts.
Adding the safety of law enforcement to the list of threats judges must consider when setting bail.
Implementing a statewide case management system, so judges and magistrates would have all the relevant information at bail settings.
Only allowing judges, and not lower-level magistrates, to set bail in cases involving dangerous criminals.
Bail reform has already been a key part of the platforms of most groups focused on criminal justice issues. Court fights against bail practices that largely keep poor, non-violent offenders in jail while similar defendants with more cash go free are ongoing in Harris, Dallas and Galveston counties. A reform bill last session by state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, passed the conservative upper chamber but died in the House.
“If we’re going to do bail bond reform, we ought to do real bail bond reform and look at the bill that passed the Senate last session,” Whitmire told The Texas Tribune Tuesday morning ahead of Abbott’s announcement. “The first part of my proposal would have prevented that guy from having a bond at all.”
Whitmire, who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said his bill would have toughened bail-setting practices for violent offenders, like Black, by allowing judges to deny them release on bond altogether and use risk assessments to set bail for non-violent offenders or release them without payment.
Abbott said at the press conference Tuesday that his proposal could be an avenue for lawmakers to include reforms for non-violent criminals, like using risk assessments to keep poor people who aren’t dangerous out of the jails.