The Law of Parties bill today passed the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.
HB 2267 in the Texas Legislature would prohibit the state from seeking the death penalty for people in Law of Parties cases, which is a law that allows non-killers to be sentenced to death for the actions of another person. Kenneth Foster was sentenced to death under the Law of Parties before his death sentence was commuted to life in 2007 by Governor Perry.
Rep Hodge’s bill was approved in the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence on April 21. It now goes to the Calendars Committee.
Scott Cobb recorded this video of Rep Hodge talking about HB 2267 about an hour after the bill was approved in committee.
We have a lot of work to do to get the bill passed by Calendars and through the entire House, but today’s approval was a major victory. The victory was made possible by the efforts of many people, including Rep Hodge, Rep Dutton, their staffs, and the many people who attended the Lobby Day Against the Death Penalty on March 24 to visit legislators in person or called or emailed legislators urging them to pass the bill.
Special thanks go to all the family members of people on death row under the Law of Parties who came to Lobby Day or who testified in committee for the bill. This victory belongs to you!
Rep Terri Hodge on Committee Approval of Law of Parties Bill from Scott Cobb on Vimeo.