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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the study of death eligible homicide cases committed |
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and prosecuted in the state of Texas. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. The Office of Court Administration, through |
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requests for proposals from competent scholars, the execution of an |
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empirical study of a scientifically valid sample of all death |
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eligible homicide cases committed and prosecuted on or after 1973 |
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in the state. Such review and analysis shall examine for each such |
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case (1) the facts including mitigating and aggravating |
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circumstances, (2) the race and socioeconomic status of the |
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defendant and victim(s), (3) the charges filed, (4) the crime for |
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which the defendant was convicted, and (5) the sentence imposed. |
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The focus of the study will be on geographic disparities, |
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arbitrariness, fairness, and racial discrimination in capital |
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charging and sentencing decision making in the administration of |
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the Texas death penalty. The study shall be updated as new death |
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eligible cases occur. |
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SECTION 2. Following the transmittal of a report of the |
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Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice to the |
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legislature, the Court of Criminal Appeals may take judicial notice |
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of such report in its adjudication of claims of geographic |
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disparities, arbitrariness, and/or racial discrimination in the |
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administration of the Texas death penalty. |