"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
On her watch: decriminalized car theft, denied Texans the CCW, gave us the state lottery under the guise of "for the chillrun's edumacation!!". She was a monster, the MSM covered up her not-so-secret lifestyle in the 1960's and 70's as a party-whore on the Austin scene. The person you were presented on TV was not who she really was.
"There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America." - Otto von Bismarck
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
1) UUMV is still a crime in Texas, so is grand theft, so you're just wrong on this.
I think I'm right:
"With a stroke of a pen, Governor Ann Richards created a statutory "right" to probation for certain felony offenders in Texas.
She and the Legislature have struggled with the early release of parolees for several years. As part of their solution to this problem, they made significant changes to the Texas Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure. In doing so, they reduced several felony offenses, including burglary of a building, forgery, theft (including auto), drug possession and drug dealing, to what is now a state jail felony or SJF.
The SJF concept is a radical departure from the previous criminal law. Under the new law, offenders are automatically released into the community on probation upon their conviction (with the possibility that the judge may give them jail time as a condition of their probation). Furthermore, the governor and Legislature intended that the punishment range for SJFs may no longer be enhanced to a higher punishment range based on previous felony convictions (with the exception of certain "violent" prior convictions). This is a mandatory sentencing guideline in the criminal's favor.
For example, under the old law, a cocaine dealer would face punishment ranging from probation to five years to life in prison. If he had two or more prior felony convictions, his punishment could be enhanced to 25 years to life in prison. Under the new law, such a criminal would now face a sentence of two to five years on probation whether he had 20 or no prior drug dealing convictions. Although this was the Legislature's intent, it failed to amend the enhancement statue. Prosecutors will continue to enhance SJFs unless appellate courts rule otherwise.
The vast majority of prosecutors were left out of the loop in the formation of these sweeping changes. Those prosecutors who were involved were exercising damage control, and almost all prosecutors feel that this new law is a historic blunder of monumental proportions. We feel the citizens of Harris County must get the facts and understand the problems which can be anticipated under the new law." Source: http://www.jfa.net/VOJ/Nov94.html
"There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America." - Otto von Bismarck