Hello,
I did a search on the Texas Legislature's website for all bills with
"death penalty" or "capital punishment" in the text or legislative
analysis that passed the legislature during Bush's governorship. I
also looked at the lists of bills passed and vetoed. All summaries
below are from the bill analyses provided by the legislative staff.
The following bills reached Bush's desk during his tenure:
June 7, 1995: Bush signs Senate Bill 440. According to the bill
review, the legislation was to "streamline the review of capital
convictions and significantly reduce the time between conviction and
the imposition of a death sentence, while assuring that capital
convictions and death sentences are fully and fairly reviewed."
Source: Texas Legislature, bill analysis to CSSB 440,
"http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=74&SESS=R&CHAMBER=S&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=00440&VERSION=4&TYPE=A."
Bill history: (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/db2www/tlo/billhist/actions.d2w/report?LEG=74&SESS=R&CHAMBER=S&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=00440).
June 15, 1995: Bush signs House Bill 2951, which "authorizes the use
of a mechanical or electronic method of jury selection" in capital
cases.
Bill history: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/db2www/tlo/billhist/actions.d2w/report?LEG=74&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=02951
Bill analysis:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=74&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=02951&VERSION=4&TYPE=A
June 20, 1997: Bush signs Senate Bill 1728, to "clarify a filing
deadline for those seeking habeas corpus review and provide
prosecutors and trial courts an opportunity to have full input before
the application is ultimately disposed of by the Court of Criminal
Appeals, in an effort both to clarify the statute (the first one
listed above) and make the procedure more efficient."
Bill history: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/db2www/tlo/billhist/actions.d2w/report?LEG=75&SESS=R&CHAMBER=S&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=01728
Bill analysis: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=75&SESS=R&CHAMBER=S&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=01728&VERSION=4&TYPE=A
June 19, 1999: Bush signs House Bill 245, which "prohibits the state
from executing a person sentenced to death if the person is mentally
incompetent and establishes a procedure to determine the person's
level of mental competency." The bill was passed to assure state
compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Bill analysis: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/cqcgi?CQ_SESSION_KEY=SUCWKYOIZKRF&CQ_QUERY_HANDLE=125720&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=5&CQ_SAVE[bill_number]=HB00245ENR&CQ_TLO_DOC_TEXT=YES
Bill history: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/db2www/tlo/billhist/actions.d2w/report?LEG=76&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=00245
June 19, 1999: Bush sighs House Bill 1516, which "requires the
convicting court, rather than the court of criminal appeals, to
appoint and pay counsel to represent indigent death row inmates in
their applications for a writ of habeas corpus in state court, but
requires the state to reimburse a county for compensation paid to such
counsel up to $25,000. This bill also provides new procedures for
seeking an extension to applying for a writ of habeas corpus,
provides new procedures in the event of an application that is not
filed or filed untimely, and makes other procedural changes concerning
this process."
Bill analysis: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=76&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=01516&VERSION=5&TYPE=A
Bill history:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/db2www/tlo/billhist/actions.d2w/report?LEG=76&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=01516
I hope this answer meets your needs. If not, please request clarification.
Search strategy:
Texas legislature
://www.google.ca/search?q=texas+legislature&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official |
,
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