Bail Reform

8/9/18
 
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from TPPF,
8/7/18:

What to Know: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held a press conference on Tuesday calling for reform to how decisions on granting bail are made.

“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 Texas Tribune reports. “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.”

The TPPF Take: The Texas Public Policy Foundation and its Right on Crime project applaud Abbott’s call for bail reform.

“We commend the Governor for urging Texas lawmakers to move to a risk-based system in which pretrial release decisions are based on public safety,” says TPPF’s Marc Levin. “This will ensure that defendants who pose a danger to law enforcement and others stay in jail.”

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