The Bail Post
What do we know about criminal justice reforms or bail reform? How do we evaluate whether reforms are helping or making the situation worse? How can we take politics out of criminal justice and focus on public safety? The Bail Post seeks to be a place where legislators and the public can educate themselves on a host of criminal justice/bail reform issues. With various attempts at criminal justice reform from New York to Texas to California, many people are confused as to what is working and what is not. With the passage of time, more and more data is coming to light over what successful reform looks like and what reforms have been found to not be working. The rise in violent crime across the country has been startling and law makers and the public alike are desperate to find legislation that is effective. Some might ask whether some of the reforms making the situation worse? The Bail Post is an on-going discussion that seeks to cut to the core to provide education on the various issues raised and to highlight what successful criminal justice reform looks like and what measures have been disastrous. Join us and educate yourself about the best practices that jurisdictions must implement to keep their communities safe, while ensuring fairness to defendants. As a someone said recently "Public safety is the foundation of a society. Without public safety we do not have a society."
If you would like to listen other episodes of The Bail Post you can find a subject matter index of the different episodes at- https://pbtx.blogspot.com/p/subject-index-to-bail-post-podcasts.html.
The host is Ken W. Good; an attorney in Tyler, Texas who has been licensed for over 30 years. He has argued cases before the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Good has written a book on bail called "Goods On Bail." He has also has had numerous papers published on Criminal Justice Reform issues. Mr. Good is a board member of PBT and serves on the legislative committee. Mr. Good is married and has two daughters.
The Bail Post
Episode No. 65- What Are The Major Bail Bills Pending Before the Texas Legislature With Guest Judge Woolley
On this episode of The Bail Post, we discuss the major bail bills pending before the Texas Legislature. There are two proposed constitutional amendments: SJR 1 and SJR 5. There are also two bills: SB 9 and SB 40.
SJR 1 is a proposed constitutional amendment that states if you are charged with a felony and you are in Texas illegally and did not enter a port of entry properly, then you are not entitled to bail.
SJR 5 is a proposed constitutional amendment to expand preventative detention to give judges the discretion to deny bail for certain third time felons.
SB 40 states that no government funds may be given to a non-profit for the purposes of posted bail by a charitable bail fund.
SB 9 is a major bill that made up of changes to the bail process, adds new charges to the list of offenses to which no personal bond may be granted and makes minor changes to the charitable bail fund statute.
You can see these bills HERE.
These bills appear to be on the fast track. They already have been voted out of the Texas Senate and are part of the Governor's priority items which means that they may have hearings, be considered and be voted on before March 15th.
Join us as we highlight these important bills and where they are in the legislative process.