Yesterday Rep. Harold Dutton of Houston filed HB 852, his bill to abolish the death penalty in Texas. He first filed his bill to abolish the death penalty in 2003, which was the first abolition bill filed in a long time up to that year. It was an exciting day back in 2003 when Dutton’s abolition bill was heard in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Rep Jessica Farrar has also filed a bill to abolish the death penalty (HB 819). Farrar first filed her abolition bill in 2007, following the lead of Rep Dutton who has filed an abolition bill every session since 2003.
The Texas legislators who filed or signed on as co-authors to the death penalty abolition bills in 2009 were Harold Dutton, Jessica Farrar, Terri Hodge, Marisa Marquez, Lon Burnam and Al Edwards. (Hodge and Edwards are no longer members of the Legislature in 2011).
