Vote No on Proposition No. 9

Vote No On Prop. 9 For the Following Reasons:

•  This proposition attempts to start the process of bringing a New York style bail reform to Texas.  In New York, defendants accused of certain crimes must be released.  Judges have no discretion.  Defendants who commit new crimes are again released without accountability.  This spiraling cycle of violence is being created with increasing crime state wide.
• De Blasio, Mayor of New York City recently admitted that the cause of this increased  crime in New York was the bail reform law and called for New York Legislators to change the law.  Read more by CLICKING HERE.
• We agree that poor people should not be kept in jail because they are poor.  However, that is not the point of this proposition.  
• The focus of the proposition is the first part which says that "Texas bail should be based ONLY on a person's danger to society and risk of flight . . ." (emphasis added).  Texas law requires that bail should based on more than just these two things.  See Tex. Code Crim. Pro. art. 17.15.  In fact, Governor Abbott advocates that bail should be based, in part, on the defendant's criminal history and that certain offenses should be denied bail entirely.  
• Bail that is based upon risk of danger and risk of flight are based upon an automated risk assessment tool being administered.  These tools have been advocated for several years.  The Texas Office of Court Administration has advocated using such a tool.  There have been several bills advocating the use of such a tool in the past.  But they have not passed.  In the mean time, science has caught up with these tools.  There is now a lot of research on this issue.  The research consistently has concluded that risk assessments should not be used as a part of Criminal Justice Reforms.  To see a summary of the studies that have concluded risk assessments should no longer be used CLICK HERE.
• To see what real Successful Bail Reform Looks Like CLICK HERE.