Posts Tagged ‘Joe Moody’

Democrats Want To Keep Repeat Offenders On The Streets

Tuesday, May 27th, 2025

There’s been lots of chatter that Democrats need to start cracking down on crime if they want to win back the middle class voters that flipped to Trump to 2024. If so, that news hasn’t been relayed to Democrats in the Texas legislature, who seem determined to keep repeat offenders out on bail at any cost.

Measures aimed at keeping violent offenders behind bars are stalled in the Texas House after Democrats refused to provide the votes needed to meet the state’s constitutional threshold.

Senate Joint Resolution 87—renamed “Jocelyn’s Law” in honor of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was brutally murdered in Houston last year—received support from a majority of House members but failed to reach the two-thirds vote required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

The resolution, carried by State Rep. Mitch Little (R–Lewisville), would have amended the Texas Constitution to require judges to deny bail to individuals accused of violent felonies if they had previously been convicted of or were out on bail for similar crimes at the time of the new offense.

Little told members the measure is a targeted attempt to stop preventable tragedies caused by repeat violent offenders being released and allowed to reoffend.

“You may be wondering how this is going to affect you and your districts,” said Little, citing cases across the state in which individuals released on bail for serious crimes went on to commit even worse acts, including murder, human trafficking, and the killing of a law enforcement officer. “It was all preventable. It was all preventable.”

He also pointed to the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Salerno as legal precedent, emphasizing that bail is not a guaranteed right under the Constitution and that states may restrict it in the interest of public safety.

The measure received 93 votes in favor and 32 against, falling short of the 100 votes needed in the 150-member House to send a constitutional amendment to voters. It will receive one more vote tomorrow.

House Democrats largely opposed the measure, arguing it would lead to unjust pretrial incarceration and bypass due process.

State Rep. Joe Moody (D–El Paso) spoke forcefully against the resolution, calling it “wrong” and “immoral.”

“If you have a certain history, then someone accusing you gets you locked up awaiting trial automatically, maybe for years,” said Moody. “Members, that’s wrong, and it’s immoral, and we should reject it without a second thought.”

And by “a certain history” he means you’re a convicted felon.

SJR 87 had gained momentum in the wake of the seeming failure of SJR 1, a similar proposal that would have denied bail to illegal aliens accused of certain violent crimes. That resolution also bore the name “Jocelyn’s Law” but failed to clear the 100 vote threshold necessary to be put on the ballot.

Because if there’s anything Democrats love more than repeat offenders, it’s illegal alien repeat offenders.

The public at large is overwhelmingly in favor of denying bail to repeat violent offenders, but Democrats in the legislature, and their Soros-backed allies in blue city DA offices, think differently, and keeping repeat offenders out on the streets seems to be yet another hill (like transing your kids or backing radical Islamic terrorists in Gaza) they’re willing to die on…

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Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Texas | 5 Comments »

Texas Special Session Begins

Thursday, July 8th, 2021

Today the Texas Special Legislative Session begins:

Governor Greg Abbott unveiled an agenda of 11 items for the legislature to tackle in its first special session of 2021 when it convenes later this week.

The whole agenda includes:

  • Bail reform
  • Election reform
  • Border security
  • Social media censorship
  • Article X funding
  • Family violence protection
  • Requirement for student athletes to compete within their own sex
  • Restriction on abortion-inducing drugs
  • Supplemental payment to the Teachers Retirement System
  • More comprehensive critical race theory ban
  • Property tax relief
  • Foster care system appropriation
  • Cyber security appropriation

    • Items like election reform, social media censorship, and a more comprehensive ban on critical race theory were already identified by Abbott as part of the agenda.

    After House Democrats walked out of the chamber on the last night of the regular session — breaking quorum and killing various pieces of legislation, most notably the election bill — Abbott declared that he would call a special session to tackle some of those items in addition to the fall special dealing with redistricting and federal coronavirus funds.

    Another bill that died that night was bail reform, which was among Abbott’s emergency item list. It is included on the special session call.

    Abbott then vetoed Article X of the state budget which governs funding for the legislature due to, in his words, the legislature not “showing up and doing their job.”

    House Democrats petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to block Abbott’s veto of legislative funding and also appealed to Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) earlier this week to commit to stalling any special session agenda item until Article X funding is restored.

    Here’s Abbott on the special session:

    Notably missing from the agenda: A ban on the genital mutilation of minors.

    Michael Quinn Sullivan noted via email:

  • The items placed on the call by Gov. Abbott can be thought of as the “primary effect” – which is to say, how the coming contested primary is impacting the governor’s actions.
  • The items on the call read like a laundry list of what the Texas Senate under Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has actually done… and what the Texas House under Speaker Dade Phelan failed to do.

    • Whether Speaker Phelan intends to help enact the governor’s agenda remains to be seen but he did announce a brand new committee to deal with them:

    The day before Abbott released the agenda, Phelan announced the creation of a new committee: the House Select Committee on Constitutional Rights and Remedies. “The issues that will be submitted by the Governor for our consideration in the upcoming special session impact some of the most fundamental rights of Texans under the U.S. and Texas Constitutions,” Phelan said.

    “These issues, by their very nature, are complex. A select committee with expanded membership and expertise is the ideal forum for ensuring the thoughtful consideration of diverse viewpoints as these constitutional issues are expressed, debated, and decided by the House.”

    The committee will be chaired by Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) and vice-chaired by Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston).

    The other members on the body include:

  • John Bucy (D-Austin)
  • Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches)
  • Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth)
  • Jacey Jetton (R-Richmond)
  • Ann Johnson (D-Houston)
  • Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth)
  • Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa)
  • J.M. Lozano (R-Kingsville)
  • Oscar Longoria (D-Mission)
  • Joe Moody (D-El Paso)
  • Victoria Neave (D-Dallas)
  • Matt Shaheen (R-Plano)
  • James White (R-Hillister)

    • That committee doesn’t fill one with confidence. Geran was Joe Straus’ righthand man for many years, and an aide once filed a false child protection report against a primary opponent. Klick was one of only 16 Republicans to vote for creation of a Critical Race Theory-friendly Office of Health Equity in the regular session.

    Then there’s a the question of whether Democrats will walk out again to avoid the election integrity bill from passing, just as they did during the regular session.

    Stay tuned…

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    Posted in Border Control, Crime, Democrats, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | No Comments »