From the Texas Tribune: Hearing on Innocence Commission Bill Draws Heated Testimony

This is an old story - from May of last year - but it touches on an issue raised in the section on criminal justice in the state. What to do about the number of convicted felons in the state who have been exonerated of their crimes, along with the suspicion that other people may week be also convicted of crimes they did not commit?

Should an Innocence Commission be established to deal with them?

The story highlights a contentious hearing where the need for a commission was debated:

The brother of an exoneree who died while wrongly imprisoned shouted at a senator and former prosecutor on Tuesday during a committee hearing that turned explosive, saying her attitude was deplorable and she should get a new job before storming out while muttering an expletive.

Cory Session, the brother of Tim Cole, who was posthumously exonerated of rape charges, shouted at state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Southside Place, after she voiced opposition to a proposal to create a commission that would investigate wrongful convictions in Texas.

Several men who spent time in prison for crimes they did not commit were among those who testified during the Senate Criminal Justice Committee hearing aboutHouse Bill 166, by state Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, which would create an "innocence commission."

Under the bill, members appointed by the governor would investigate wrongful convictions, identify why they occur and examine appeals filed with the state’s courts for evidence of ethical violations by attorneys and judges.

Session, who works with the Innocence Project of Texas, criticized Huffman, a former prosecutor and criminal court judge, over her opposition to the bill. He accused her of standing in the way of reforms to prevent wrongful convictions.

"The eyes of Texas have been closed on criminal justice reform," said Session. Session also said that Texas Supreme Court Justice Wallace Jefferson and other judges have supported the proposed commission. "The attitude you have is deplorable," he said to Huffman. "I am sickened. ... I am pissed off."

The panel highlighted a study commissioned by the 81st legislature on wrongful convictions.

- Click here for the report, and here for the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.

As with the rest of the United States, the criminal justice system in Texas is commonly accused of not providing adequate opportunities for the poor to defend themselves. Beyond that, there is little consensus that such opportunities are either necessary - or worth funding.