Delaware Senate Bill 256 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: Introduced on June 14 2012 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2012-06-21 - Defeated by Senate. Votes: Defeated 9 YES 11 NO 1 NOT VOTING 0 ABSENT 0 VACANT
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that will modernize the bail provisions within the Delaware Constitution and ensure that the right to bail under the Delaware Constitution is coterminous with the bail right guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This Act would have no effect on bail procedures and standards in capital cases. As to non-capital cases, though, a court could restrict bail in appropriate circumstances. This change to Article I, Section 12 would permit Delaware to achieve consistency with federal law and practice, as well as, that of many other states. Decision-making by any court regarding detention would have to be made on an individualized, fact-governed basis in order to pass muster under both the Federal and Delaware Constitutions. Federal constitutional law permits pre-trial detention based on the premise that certain defendants would continue to victimize members of the community while released on bail pending trial. It makes little sense, however, that protection of the community should depend on whether a defendant is facing trial in federal court as opposed to state court. Author: Sen. DeLuca

An Act Proposing An Amendment To Article I, 12 Of The Delaware Constitution Of 1897, As Amended, Relating To Criminal Procedures.

Sen. Anthony DeLuca [D]

Rep. John Mitchell [D]

2012-06-21 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 9 N: 11 NV: 1 Abs: 0) [FAIL]

Date	Chamber	Action
2012-06-21		Defeated by Senate. Votes: Defeated 9 YES 11 NO 1 NOT VOTING 0 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2012-06-20		Reported Out of Committee (EXECUTIVE) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
2012-06-14		Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis146.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/eb139ac5a7d3fc4e85257a1b007a2f78?OpenDocument
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis146.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+256/$file/legis.html?open
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis146.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/35f53db18344c84f85257a24006ca576?OpenDocument