RECENT LEGISLATION: Texas Legislature Examining Problems of Innocence and Racial Bias

Two bills under con­sid­er­a­tion in Texas aim to address issues in the state’s death penal­ty. House Bill 2458 would allow defen­dants to appeal their death sen­tences if they can prove that race was a sig­nif­i­cant fac­tor in the deci­sion to seek or impose the death penal­ty. Statistical evi­dence of bias can be used to sup­port such a claim. Similar bills, referred to as the Racial Justice Act, have been con­sid­ered in oth­er states. Testimony in favor of the bill men­tioned the case of Duane Buck, an African American who was sen­tenced to death after a psy­chol­o­gist tes­tifed that Buck would like­ly be a future dan­ger to soci­ety because of his race. On April 17, the Texas Senate unan­i­mous­ly passed SB 1292, a bill that requires the state to col­lect and test all DNA evi­dence pri­or to a tri­al in which the defen­dant could receive the death penal­ty. The bill now heads to the House.

(M. Chammah, ​“Panel Debates Death Penalty Cases, Race Considerations,” Texas Tribune, April 17, 2013; ​“Senate OKs manda­to­ry DNA test­ing bill,” Houston Chronicle, April 17, 2013). See Innocence, Recent Legislation, and Race.