Democrats at the Texas Capitol are once again attempting to advance legislation that critics say would effectively abolish the death penalty in the state.
House Bill 2777, by Democrat State Rep. Toni Rose of Dallas, was heard Tuesday in the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.
The proposal is nearly identical to her bill from last session, which passed the Texas House in 2023 with unanimous Democrat support and help from 18 Republicans.
The bill would prohibit the death penalty for individuals found to have had a “severe mental illness”—defined as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder accompanied by active psychotic symptoms—at the time of a capital offense.
Opponents say the language is vague and would make it nearly impossible for prosecutors to pursue capital punishment, even in the most egregious cases.
“This statutory change is a change in direction that would ban the death penalty,” warned the Texas Municipal Police Association in a letter to lawmakers last session. “The vague language will yield in either the jury being too confused to make the determination, or an appeals court overturning the case.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, Dr. Kimberly Harrison, an Austin psychologist and former president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, testified in support of the bill.
She was questioned by Republican State Rep. Brent Money, who raised concerns that high-profile killers such as James Holmes (Aurora theater shooting), Jared Loughner (Gabby Giffords shooting), and David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) could have potentially avoided the death penalty under this law if their crimes had occurred in Texas.
“I think in each and every one of those cases, the vast majority of the people of Texas would not want the prosecution to have to go through enormous other legal hoops,” Money said. “At least, I believe that’s the way that the people of House District 2 would look at this.”
Harrison pushed back, noting that a diagnosis alone wouldn’t be enough.
“If he was having active symptoms at the time … my understanding is under this bill, he could still be eligible for the death penalty,” she said, referring to Holmes. “He could have been on medications and did the killing for reasons that had nothing to do with his mental illness.”
When the House debated the bill last session, State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) offered an amendment to exclude mass murderers from the exemption, only for it to be killed by a procedural move from Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Allen). Despite warnings from law enforcement groups and a majority of Republicans, the bill passed the House in 2023 by a vote of 84–61.
It did not advance in the Texas Senate.
House Bill 2777 now awaits further action in committee.
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