1-1 By: Goodman, Gray (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.C.R. No. 200 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001; 1-3 May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Administration; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following 1-5 vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-7 WHEREAS, The Texas Penal Code has been selected as the 1-8 best-written, best-integrated penal code in the United States 1-9 today; and 1-10 WHEREAS, This conclusion was reached in a study by Professor 1-11 Paul H. Robinson of the Northwestern University Law School and two 1-12 of his former students and is contained in their Northwestern 1-13 University Law Review article, "The Five Worst (and Five Best) 1-14 American Criminal Codes," published in Fall 2000; and 1-15 WHEREAS, The authors evaluated the penal codes of all 52 1-16 jurisdictions with regard to five criteria: 1) how 1-17 comprehensively the code states the law's commands; 2) how 1-18 effectively the code communicates the law's commands to the public; 1-19 3) how comprehensive and accessible the code's rules are with 1-20 regard to determining whether to impose liability and the general 1-21 grade of punishment to be imposed; 4) how accurately the code 1-22 assesses who does and who does not deserve criminal liability; and 1-23 5) how accurately the code assesses the proper grade of punishment 1-24 deserved by offenders who are held criminally liable; and 1-25 WHEREAS, Much of the credit for the writing of the present 1-26 Texas Penal Code belongs to the Legal Division of the Texas 1-27 Legislative Council, which drafted a revised penal code that was 1-28 adopted by the 63rd Texas Legislature in 1973; council attorneys 1-29 were also responsible for a rewrite of the revised penal code 1-30 adopted by the 73rd Legislature in 1993 in response to 1-31 recommendations of the Texas Punishment Standards Commission; and 1-32 WHEREAS, The State of Texas has a penal code that admirably 1-33 serves its citizens and is recognized by legal scholars for its 1-34 clarity, comprehensiveness, and accuracy, and the council attorneys 1-35 and others who were involved in the drafting and preparation of 1-36 this code are indeed deserving of special tribute; now, therefore, 1-37 be it 1-38 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 1-39 hereby commend the Texas Legislative Council for its excellent work 1-40 on the revised Texas Penal Code, the best-written criminal code in 1-41 the United States of America. 1-42 * * * * *