SENATE BILL 1424 PENDING NOW ON CHL QUAL.
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:10 pm
For those of you who do not know me, I have been fighting a battle with the DPS for over a year and a half now on a denial of CHL. Check my previous posts for history on this case. We won at County Court level on Feb 3rd. The state has appealed my case to the third circuit court of appeals in Austin. A week after our win in County court, a bill was introduced in Senate and has moved rapidly into committee. This bill is in direct reference to our pending appeal case which has been docketed for June. The bill proposes a single change in the qualifications for permitting. The change is in the penal code 411.171. At present the code reads that anyone who has a pardon or expungement is entitled to CHL. The NEW bill also includes anyone who has a set aside or vacation of conviction. Our contention in court was that the bill in its current form was unconstitutional and a denial of civil rights. We have 8 supreme court cases and one appeals court case that buttresses our position. We have won in two separate courts at this time.
While this seems a win for myself and anyone else who has a set aside of conviction or a vacation of conviction, there is a serious caveat.
The final paragraph of the proposed bill states that the bill only pertains to those who commit a crime after the effective date of the bill which will be Sept 9. 2009. "For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this act if any element of the offense occured before that date".
So to sum up the situation, while the state has not admitted that the current act is unconstitutional and a violation of civil rights, the state is seeking to keep anyone who has been denied up till this time from taking advantage of this new legislation. I can only assume that they are afraid of lawsuits from those denied their civil rights. There would be numerous cases overturned if the the last paragraph was left out of the proposed legislation. Ironically, by adding the last paragraph to this proposed legislation, the State of Texas is again attempting to violate the civil rights of anyone with set aside prior to the effective date. I would appreciate comments or advice from anyone who understands legislative process.
While this seems a win for myself and anyone else who has a set aside of conviction or a vacation of conviction, there is a serious caveat.
The final paragraph of the proposed bill states that the bill only pertains to those who commit a crime after the effective date of the bill which will be Sept 9. 2009. "For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this act if any element of the offense occured before that date".
So to sum up the situation, while the state has not admitted that the current act is unconstitutional and a violation of civil rights, the state is seeking to keep anyone who has been denied up till this time from taking advantage of this new legislation. I can only assume that they are afraid of lawsuits from those denied their civil rights. There would be numerous cases overturned if the the last paragraph was left out of the proposed legislation. Ironically, by adding the last paragraph to this proposed legislation, the State of Texas is again attempting to violate the civil rights of anyone with set aside prior to the effective date. I would appreciate comments or advice from anyone who understands legislative process.