Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR500 Compare Versions

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1	1	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 500
2	2	WHEREAS, The year 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the
3	3	passage of the Tim Cole Act by the 81st Texas Legislature, and
4	4	this milestone provides a fitting opportunity to honor the memory
5	5	of those esteemed Texans who dedicated their lives to improving
6	6	the state's criminal justice system; and
7	7	WHEREAS, Signed into law by Governor Rick Perry in 2009,
8	8	the Tim Cole Act increased financial compensation for the wrongly
9	9	imprisoned; the legislation is named in honor of Timothy Cole,
10	10	the first person in the country to be exonerated posthumously
11	11	through DNA testing; a veteran of the United States Army and
12	12	former Texas Tech student, Mr. Cole died in prison in 1999; his
13	13	family and the Innocence Project of Texas worked together to
14	14	clear his name, and he received the state's first posthumous
15	15	pardon in 2010; five years later, his alma mater presented his
16	16	family with an honorary degree in law and social justice to
17	17	recognize Mr. Cole's sacrifice and contribution to reforms in the
18	18	state's criminal justice system; the City of Lubbock has also
19	19	dedicated a statue in his memory; and
20	20	WHEREAS, The Innocence Project of Texas was founded in 2006
21	21	by attorneys Mike Ware and Jeff Blackburn to provide pro bono
22	22	investigative and legal services to indigent Texans convicted of
23	23	crimes they did not commit; since its inception, the organization
24	24	has won the freedom of 26 men and women; among those cleared were
25	25	four men, now deceased, who devoted themselves to helping others
26	26	still wrongfully incarcerated; and
27	27	WHEREAS, James Lee Woodard of Dallas County was exonerated
28	28	in 2009 after 27 years in prison, and while working in behalf of
29	29	criminal justice reform, he donated $100,000 to study the causes
30	30	of faulty eyewitness identification; he passed away in October
31	31	2012; and
32	32	WHEREAS, Billy James Smith of Dallas County, exonerated in
33	33	2006 after two decades in prison, accepted speaking engagements
34	34	across the country to address prison reform; in addition, he
35	35	testified before the United States Congress and the Texas
36	36	Legislature on numerous pieces of legislation; he passed away in
37	37	March 2017; and
38	38	WHEREAS, Johnnie Lindsey of Dallas County, imprisoned for
39	39	26 years before his exoneration in 2008, became a private
40	40	investigator and process server while working to free the
41	41	innocent; he died in February 2018; and
42	42	WHEREAS, Ronald Gene Taylor of Harris County served 13
43	43	years in prison until 2008, when he was exonerated; he dedicated
44	44	himself to criminal justice reform at the state and national
45	45	level until his death in September 2018; and
46	46	WHEREAS, These brave and resolute Texans set an inspiring
47	47	example through their tremendous commitment to criminal justice
48	48	reform, and their legacy will long endure; now, therefore, be it
49	49	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th
50	50	Legislature, hereby commemorate the 10th anniversary of the
51	51	Tim Cole Act and pay tribute to the lives of Timothy Cole, James
52	52	Lee Woodard, Johnnie Lindsey, Billy James Smith, and Ronald
53	53	Gene Taylor.
54	54	West
55	55	________________________________
56	56	President of the Senate
57	57	I hereby certify that the
58	58	above Resolution was adopted by
59	59	the Senate on March 26, 2019.
60	60	________________________________
61	61	Secretary of the Senate
62	62	________________________________
63	63	Member, Texas Senate