The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has voted in favor of a bill to create an Innocence Commission. It is HB 115 by Ruth McClendon and Pete Gallego. The vote was 7 for, 1 against, and 1 absent. It now goes to the Calendars Committee, which will vote on whether it gets scheduled for a floor vote.
This was one of the issues we advocated for on the “Day of Innocence” and Statewide Lobby Day Against the Death Penalty on March 16.