(Austin, TX) –  Urging Texas lawmakers to put public safety first when determining bail in high-risk and dangerous cases, Nikki Pressley, Chief of Staff and Texas Director of Right On Crime, a national criminal justice campaign of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, testified to members of the state’s House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. Pressley suggested that Texas should move toward a risk-based system for bail where both court appearance and public safety risks should determine pretrial release.

“In Texas, the accused have a constitutional right to bail — meaning unless a defendant is charged with capital murder or meets a certain criterion for repeat violent felonies, the judge cannot detain a defendant and must afford them bail, no matter how dangerous they believe that defendant to be,” said Pressley. “This creates a system in which high-risk defendants who can afford bail can buy their freedom — despite the public safety threat they pose.”

Pressley pointed out that allowing judges to detain high-risk defendants before trial is not unorthodox across the nation. Many states allow for the denial of bail for a variety of offenses and circumstances beyond capital murder, and nine states do not have a constitutional right to bail. 

“Preventive detention is not designed to strip defendants of their due process rights or disregard the presumption of innocence,” said Pressley. “Every Texan has due process rights, and every Texan is innocent until proven guilty.”

In 1987, the Supreme Court ruled that not everyone has the right to bail. This ruling affirmed that both court appearance and public safety should be considered when determining pretrial release conditions; if there are no conditions that would reasonably ensure the safety of the public, then pretrial release CAN be denied. [United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987)]

“Providing judges this discretion in serious, violent cases will help keep our communities safe,” said Pressley. “To further complement the expansion of preventive detention and move us closer to a risk-based system, we recommend amending the bill to add the “least restrictive conditions” language that is currently in the existing statute.”

Pressley referenced Texas Article 17.028(b), Code of Criminal Procedure: “In setting bail under this article, the magistrate shall impose the least restrictive conditions, if any, and the personal bond or cash or surety bond necessary to reasonably ensure the defendant’s appearance in court as required and the safety of the community, law enforcement, and the victim of the alleged offense.”

Right On Crime is a national campaign of the Texas Public Policy Foundation supporting conservative solutions for fewer victims, less crime, and safer communities. The movement was born in Texas in 2007, established as a national campaign in 2010, and leads the way in implementing conservative criminal justice initiatives across the nation that are just, effective, and fiscally responsible. For more information, visit our website at www.RightOnCrime.com. 

For more information or to request an interview, contact Tonya Kerr ([email protected]).