TexasCHLforum.com

Proposition 9 passed by a wide margin (57%):
http://kfyo.com/2011-texas-constitution ... n-results/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Voter turnout was pathetic, as usual for polls that involve only constitutional amendments. (Some cities, including Houston, also had municipal elections yesterday).

- Jim

You're welcome, amigo.

I can't tell anyone how to vote on anything, but y'all need to make up your minds soon.

- Jim

The power of the president of the United States to issue pardons was in the constitution from day 1. Many colonial governors had pardon power before the colonies were states. All state governors have it now.

Texas governors had pretty much the same broad power until a few governors back when it was used or abused for political or ideological reasons. That's why the power of the Texas governor became so much more limited.

This amendment is strictly about a very specific set of circumstances where the governor may issue a pardon.

If you don't like the concept of pardons, you basically don't like an element of common law that has been in place for centuries.

I might also remind people that before the 1960s, a convicted felon who completed has sentence typically had full restoration of his rights. He could vote, run for office, join the military, own firearms of course, or hold any job if he could convince the employer to hire him.

The rights of a convicted felon or even some people convicted of misdemeanors are much more limited now, and the record of a conviction is much easier to obtain. This makes the justice of a pardon much more important for someone who deserves a pardon.

- Jim

This is one constitutional amendment. You can vote for it or against it.

Other changes are going to require action by the legislature. Maybe they need to get the message that being "tough on crime" beyond a certain point is irrational, unjust, and also doesn't get them elected. Texas has made some progress with allowing convicts to use new DNA testing techniques that were not available at the time of their trial to exonerate themselves—though the threshold is still set high.

I don't know what can ever be done about incorrect eyewitness testimony or monstrosities like "recovered memory" that have been used to convict people of crimes in the absence of any other evidence.

- Jim

talltex wrote:My point was that there ARE circumstances that may arise, where a judge or prosecutor knows that it would be a miscarriage of justice to convict someone of an offense with such drastic repercussions, but they ARE guilty of the offense legally...

I'm inclined to agree.

With felonies, and especially sexual offenses, we are talking about making the offender a second-class citizen for life. Their prospects are very limited, which leads offenders to drift into further criminality such as drug-dealing or theft because they have nothing to lose.

Deferred adjudication allows a person who has made one bad decision and then cleans up his act to go on with a normal life.

- Jim

..but what about an 18 year old high school senior getting caught having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend...

This kind of case generally would not be prosecutable now in Texas. There's a three-year margin of age that provides an affirmative defense for consensual sexual relations between a minor and adult (of opposite sexes).

An offense would have to involves something like an 18-year-old with a 14-year-old or a 21-year-old with a 17-year-old.

See Penal Code 22.011(e).

I think a lot of sexual prosecutions are brought under questionable circumstances, such as estranged lovers deciding after the fact that they had been raped, or divorcing parents charging one another with sexual offenses.

- Jim

Texas constitutional amendment proposition 9 would give the governor the ability/authority to pardon a person who completed deferred adjudication.

As it stands now, deferred adjudication is in a gray area, and it's difficult for a person convicted with a DA resolution to get a pardon.

This issue is fairly controversial (which I had not expected). On one side you have people who don't think someone who just slapped his wife around a few times or grew an acre of pot should be forgiven. On the other side, you have the other side, I guess.

A pardon could make the difference whether or not someone is denied for life the right to own firearms, serve in the military, and many other rights and privileges of citizenship.

http://votexas.org/exp-statements-2011.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is one of the few times when your vote actually matters. These amendments are decided by small voter turnout and sometimes narrow margins.

The other proposed amendments have no potential impact on the RKBA that I can see. Most concern funding or bond issues. You can make up your own mind in any case.

Early voting starts tomorrow (Oct. 24). The official voting day is Tues. Nov. 8.

- Jim