HOUSTON – Friday will mark three years since 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez was shot and killed in the Gulfgate area.
Her aunt April Aguirre tells KPRC the suspect Tony Earls was released from jail on bail just hours after the crime.
Aguirre believes there needs to be a change to the current bail system in the state of Texas, which is why she plans to testify in support of Senate Joint Resolution 5 on Wednesday.
The bill is a constitutional amendment which would allow judges the discretion to give no bail to certain violent defendants. Currently in Texas, judges can only give no bail in capital murder or death penalty cases.
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“As a family, I don’t comprehend how we have such misaligned sympathies,” said Aguirre. “Why aren’t the sympathies with the victims?”
Aguirre has been an outspoken advocate on bail reform, which Governor Greg Abbott has declared an emergency item this legislative session.
“If we cannot have judges that can say, ‘no, this individual is too dangerous,’ then people start to feel as if the system is not working,” said Aguirre.
Sydney Zuiker is the senior director of programs at Crime Stoppers of Houston. She said SJR5 would prioritize public safety.
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“We’re looking at the most egregious, most violent cases,” said Zuiker. “Keeping someone from having cash bail when they’re maybe a repeat offender or have multiple felony bonds, and then are charged with an additional violent offense, that’s really looking out for public safety.”
Opponents of the bill argue it presumes defendants are guilty before trial and puts people who are low income at a disadvantage.
This includes Texas Fair Defense Project.
“It gives the government the unwarranted power to expand pre-trial detention and jail, thousands of people for long periods of time, regardless of the strength of evidence against them on allegations, which are legally presumed to be untrue,” said Rylan Maksound from Texas Fair Defense Project in an email to KPRC. “Incarceration is one of the most severe deprivations of liberty in our society. Jails are sites of suicides, overdoses deaths, violence, and sexual assault.
Aguirre said she believes in giving people who deserve it a shot at redemption, but there comes a time when enough is enough.
“We’re not asking individuals not to give criminals that are deserving of a second chance but don’t give them a third or fourth or fifth or sixth and seventh and eighth,” said Aguirre. “This is absurd.”
If SJR5 passes the Texas legislature, voters will have to approve it on the November ballot.