Gov. Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to change how bail is set for some defendants. But criminal justice experts say it is not the bail reform that would prevent people from remaining in jail because they are poor. Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
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Preston Chaney was booked into Harris County Jail last April, accused of stealing lawn equipment and meat from someone’s garage. If he’d had $100, he could have posted bail and walked free within days.
Instead, the 64-year-old Black man was held for months, caught the coronavirus and died from COVID-19 in August while awaiting trial.
Gov. Greg Abbott prioritized changing how bail is set. He isn’t addressing people stuck behind bars because they can’t afford to pay.
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Credit: Evan L Roy/The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Preston Chaney was booked into Harris County Jail last April, accused of stealing lawn equipment and meat from someone’s garage. If he’d had $100, he could have posted bail and walked free within days.
Instead, the 64-year-old Black man was held for months, caught the coronavirus and died from COVID-19 in August while awaiting trial.
Listen • 3:19
Last month, Melissa Cigarroa stood on a podium and spoke to a crowd in the Rio Grande Valley. The crowd held signs with demands like “not another foot.”
A few miles away, then-President Donald Trump was in town to celebrate his wall. Cigarroa and the protesters did not approve of his visit or his wall.
For Cigarroa, it’s personal. She owns land along the border in Zapata County where Trump decided to build a wall. She traveled almost three hours from Laredo that morning to deliver her message.
“Trump’s senseless wall cannot become Biden’s first broken promise. We call on Biden to act immediately to stop the wall,” she told the crowd and led them in a chant calling for “not another foot,” a reference to Biden’s campaign promise.
US Fish And Wildlife Service
Last month, Melissa Cigarroa stood on a podium and spoke to a crowd in the Rio Grande Valley. The crowd held signs with demands like “not another foot.”
A few miles away, then-President Donald Trump was in town to celebrate his wall. Cigarroa and the protesters did not approve of his visit or his wall.
For Cigarroa, it’s personal. She owns land along the border in Zapata County where Trump decided to build a wall. She traveled almost three hours from Laredo that morning to deliver her message.
“Trump’s senseless wall cannot become Biden’s first broken promise. We call on Biden to act immediately to stop the wall,” she told the crowd and led them in a chant calling for “not another foot,” a reference to Biden’s campaign promise.
, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Republican lawmakers, buoyed by a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court and the trouncing of state-level Democrats in the November election, are pushing to reclaim Texasâ role as the vanguard among states restricting access to abortion this legislative session.
Legislators have promised to back a so-called âheartbeat billâ that would bar abortions before many women know they are pregnant. Anti-abortion advocates have urged them to challenge the
Roe v. Wade decision that established the right to an abortion. And Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said at a âTexas Rally for Lifeâ event in January that there is more âwe must do to defend the unborn.â