Bill Text: TX HR971 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognizing March 19, 2013, as the Day of Innocence.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-18 - Referred to Rules & Resolutions [HR971 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR971-Introduced.html
| 83R15457 CBE-D | ||
| By: Dutton | H.R. No. 971 | |
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| WHEREAS, Exonerated former death row inmate Clarence | ||
| Brandley and citizens from across the Lone Star State are visiting | ||
| the Capitol on March 19, 2013, the Day of Innocence, in support of a | ||
| moratorium on executions and other related measures; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Since 1989, at least 117 individuals in Texas have | ||
| been exonerated, according to the National Registry of | ||
| Exonerations; these men and women were wrongfully convicted of a | ||
| crime and lost years of their lives in prison before eventually | ||
| being cleared of all the charges; data from 2012 ranks Texas among | ||
| the top three states for number of exonerations; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Convicted of murder in 1981, Clarence Brandley was | ||
| just weeks away from his scheduled execution when evidence of | ||
| coerced testimony and blatant racism in his first two trials | ||
| prompted the FBI to intervene; three years later, the charges | ||
| against him were dismissed; Mr. Brandley subsequently married, | ||
| apprenticed as an electrician, and became a Baptist minister; his | ||
| life became the subject of a book, White Lies, and a cable TV movie, | ||
| Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Other exonerees from Texas include Randall | ||
| D. Adams, Ricardo Aldape Guerra, Gilbert Alejandro, Billy | ||
| Frederick Allen, Gilbert Amezquita, Jason Barber, James | ||
| Blackshire, Michael Blair, Brandy Briggs, Stephen Brodie, Joyce | ||
| Ann Brown, A. B. Butler, Jr., Kevin Byrd, Domingo Calderon III, | ||
| Raul Cantu, Charles Chatman, Timothy B. Cole, Keith Coleman, Robert | ||
| Carroll Coney, Darian Contee, Roy Criner, Anthony Curlin, Richard | ||
| Danziger, Muneer Deeb, Gayle Dove, Dale Duke, Cornelius Dupree, Joe | ||
| Elizondo, Mary Ann Elizondo, Hicks Elliff, Jerry Lee Evans, | ||
| Hilliard Fields, Wiley Fountain, Sherri Frederick, Larry Fuller, | ||
| Ronnie Mark Gariepy, James Giles, Donald Wayne Good, Andrew | ||
| Gossett, Anthony Graves, Michael Anthony Green, Tony Hall, Ricky | ||
| Dale Harmon, John Michael Harvey, Andre Haygood, Eugene Henton, | ||
| Alejandro Hernandez, Raymond Jackson, Antrone Johnson, Morris | ||
| S. Jones, Entre Nax Karage, Martin Kimsey, Carlos Marcos Lavernia, | ||
| Johnnie Lindsey, Debbie Loveless, Federico Macias, Norman Mack, | ||
| Thomas McGowan, Richard Miles, Billy Wayne Miller, John Miller, | ||
| LaDondrell Montgomery, Patrick Montgomery, Brandon Moon, Michael | ||
| Morton, Fredda Susie Mowbray, Arthur Mumphrey, Lacresha Murray, | ||
| Christopher Ochoa, Randall Philen, Steven Phillips, Johnny | ||
| Pinchback, David Shawn Pope, Allen Wayne Porter, Ricardo Rachell, | ||
| Jesus Ramirez, Simon Angel Rivera, Shakara Robertson, Anthony | ||
| Robinson, George Rodriguez, Stephen Lynn Russell, Ben Salazar, | ||
| Christopher Shun Scott, Michael Scott, Daniel Roy Settle, Alberto | ||
| Sifuentes, Claude Simmons, Jr., Billy James Smith, Marcus Lashun | ||
| Smith, Robert Springsteen, Richard Sturgeon, Josiah Sutton, Ronald | ||
| Gene Taylor, Rickey Dale Thomas, Victor Larue Thomas, Stephen | ||
| Thompson, Michael Toney, Wesley Tuley, Keith Turner, Gilbert | ||
| Valdez, James Waller, Patrick Waller, Gregory Wallis, Nathaniel | ||
| Ward, Calvin E. Washington, Darryl Washington, Mark Webb, David Lee | ||
| Wiggins, James Curtis Williams, Joe Sidney Williams, Thomas Wayne | ||
| Williams, Ernest Ray Willis, Richard Winfrey, Sr., James Lee | ||
| Woodard, Michael Anthony Woten, and Rickey Dale Wyatt; and | ||
| WHEREAS, There is no way to return the time that those who | ||
| have been unjustly accused and imprisoned have lost, nor is there | ||
| compensation for the mental and emotional anguish that they have | ||
| suffered; notwithstanding their immeasurable pain, however, many | ||
| exonerees have found the resilience to take a terrible ordeal and | ||
| channel their response into constructive endeavors, and their | ||
| strength and determination to overcome are a continuing inspiration | ||
| to countless Americans; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby recognize March 19, 2013, as the Day of | ||
| Innocence and honor Clarence Brandley and the many other exonerated | ||
| men and women for their tenacity in the pursuit of justice and for | ||
| their contributions to the debate over an issue of paramount public | ||
| concern. | ||
