Farcical debate dooms second chance bill for prisoners after author couldn't remember what was in it: report

A bill that would lower to 30 years the parole eligibility of offenders locked up when they were young will likely fail because its sponsor couldn't remember what was in it, the Houston Chronicle reported today.

The Second Look Act had bipartisan support, but defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory when its sponsor, state Sen. Drew Springer, (R-Muenster) misstated major provisions, the Chronicle reported. The bill would have shortened from 40 to 30 years the eligibility for a parole hearing – and provided no automatic release – but Springer got that wrong in a last-minute debate.

“For 11 minutes, the senators debated the bill's substance without consulting a copy of the proposed law, which is three pages long,” the Chronicle reported. “Then they decided not to advance it for a vote in the Texas Senate, which all but guaranteed its demise in the waning days of the 88th legislative session.”

Here's a sample of the debate’s dark comedy, as reported by the Chronicle:

“I think they get out at 30 [years],” said Houston Republican Joan Huffman, a prosecutor who opposed the bill. “If you killed someone’s son, if you killed someone’s daughter, you’re going to get out even though the family thought that a judge and a jury had convicted you, and you were going to stay in prison. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct,” responded Springer, who authored the Senate version of the bill and sponsored the version in the House.

“Springer was wrong,” the Chronicle noted. “According to a copy of the bill provided by Sen. John Whitmire’s staff, the legislation merely changes when inmates would be ‘eligible for release on parole.’

“Nevertheless, for several more minutes, senators debated the issue and were not able to come to a resolution.”

Whitmire, who had convened the last-minute hearing, asked “Which is it,” the report said. ”Because quite frankly I thought it was still a discretionary matter.’”

Then, it seems, Houston Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt chimed in: “Senator Huffman’s right.”

But “Sen. Juan Hinojosa, a Democrat from McAllen, disagreed: ‘I don’t think it’s mandatory,’” he said, according to the report.

“Bettencourt threw his hands up in disagreement, exclaiming, “It is!”

“Sen. Borris Miles, a Democrat from Houston, tried once again to clear up the matter. ‘They could be the gang leader inside the prison walls and they get an automatic pushout?’ he asked.

“’This one changed it to an automatic pushout,’ Springer answered, appearing to refer to the most recent version of the bill — though that is not what it said.

“’That’s a problem,’ Miles concluded.

“As the minutes went by, no one appeared to be looking at an actual copy of the legislation, and no one sought out testimony that might have cleared up the issue,” the Chronicle observed. “Springer's staff did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the hearing.”

Making the scenario all the more amazing was that “The Texas House already voted overwhelmingly in favor of a much more expansive version of the bill in April, and two Republican lawmakers — Reps. David Cook and Brad Buckley — even went to visit (inmate Jason) Robinson in prison.”

Larry Robinson, his father, has “worked for almost a decade to convince lawmakers that his now-44-year-old son Jason, who was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager, deserves a second chance.”

“Gov. Greg Abbott also appears to approve of the idea," wrote the Chronicle. "Two years ago, a version of the Second Look Act easily passed both chambers of the Legislature, but last-minute changes to the language introduced some technical errors in the bill. Abbott vetoed it but, in a highly unusual statement, signaled that he would sign it the next time around.”