A Texas House committee took testimony Tuesday on a package of criminal justice reforms, including proposed amendments to the state constitution that would allow some violent defendants to be held without bail.
Filed by Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair John Smithee (R-Amarillo), House Joint Resolution (HJR) 16 seeks to amend the Texas Constitution to require detention without bail for any illegal alien charged with a felony crime. A companion bill filed by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) passed the Senate with bipartisan support last month.
