By Goodman H.C.R. No. 200 77R9134 MMS-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The Texas Penal Code has been selected as the 1-2 best-written, best-integrated penal code in the United States 1-3 today; and 1-4 WHEREAS, This conclusion was reached in a study by Professor 1-5 Paul H. Robinson of the Northwestern University Law School and two 1-6 of his former students and is contained in their Northwestern 1-7 University Law Review article, "The Five Worst (and Five Best) 1-8 American Criminal Codes," published in Fall 2000; and 1-9 WHEREAS, The authors evaluated the penal codes of all 52 1-10 jurisdictions with regard to five criteria: 1) how 1-11 comprehensively the code states the law's commands; 2) how 1-12 effectively the code communicates the law's commands to the public; 1-13 3) how comprehensive and accessible the code's rules are with 1-14 regard to determining whether to impose liability and the general 1-15 grade of punishment to be imposed; 4) how accurately the code 1-16 assesses who does and who does not deserve criminal liability; and 1-17 5) how accurately the code assesses the proper grade of punishment 1-18 deserved by offenders who are held criminally liable; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Much of the credit for the writing of the present 1-20 Texas Penal Code belongs to the Legal Division of the Texas 1-21 Legislative Council, which drafted a revised penal code that was 1-22 adopted by the 63rd Texas Legislature in 1973; council attorneys 1-23 were also responsible for a rewrite of the revised penal code 1-24 adopted by the 73rd Legislature in 1993 in response to 2-1 recommendations of the Texas Punishment Standards Commission; and 2-2 WHEREAS, The State of Texas has a penal code that admirably 2-3 serves its citizens and is recognized by legal scholars for its 2-4 clarity, comprehensiveness, and accuracy, and the council attorneys 2-5 and others who were involved in the drafting and preparation of 2-6 this code are indeed deserving of special tribute; now, therefore, 2-7 be it 2-8 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-9 hereby commend the Texas Legislative Council for its excellent work 2-10 on the revised Texas Penal Code, the best-written criminal code in 2-11 the United States of America.