The Big Story: Speaker Minor-Brown Seems Determined To Restore Collegiality To The House. After well over a decade of iron-fisted rule by Pete Schwartzkopf and Val Longhurst, the newly-installed Speaker took great pains yesterday to change the atmosphere of impending doom that had been a hallmark of the Pete/Val years. The floor was chock-full of family and friends of the legislators, particularly the first-termers. Every legislator had the opportunity to introduce their friends and family. It was an unhurried celebration, and it was, to me anyway, most welcome. She also humanized some of the staff members, which I appreciated. It sucked working under the previous leadership and it was entirely unnecessary. I was thrilled to watch Kamela Smith get sworn in (from the comfort of my desktop). I was thrilled to see Demetrio Ortega Jr. watch the swearing-in of his son, Josue.
None of this, of course, ensures that good work will be done this session. However, an Era Of Good Feelings at least creates a better working environment and a more collaborative framework within which to operate. Big thumbs-up to the Speaker for setting an entirely different tone yesterday. Off to a real good start.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. Pretty much reflects only the resolutions that were acted upon in order for House and Senate to organize.
Neither the Senate nor the House have agendas today. Although Wednesday is generally Committee Day in the House, there are no scheduled meetings today.
There is one notable bill scheduled to be heard in the Senate Executive Committee today. A second leg of a constitutional amendment dealing with bail provisions. It is, to put it mildly, not a bill without controversy:
Delaware lawmakers are on the verge of passing a constitutional amendment that would codify a list of felonies that would make a defendant “detention-eligible” for pretrial detention.
The list of felonies in the enabling legislation for the constitutional amendment includes violent offenses and “signal” crimes, such as first-degree murder, child abuse, selling drugs and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. Signal crimes are defined as offenses that indicate a heightened risk to public safety.
If the constitutional amendment is approved, people like Chatman who are charged with possession of a firearm by a person prohibited could be automatically determined to be “detention-eligible” and held without being given the opportunity to post bail.
Tanya Whittle, director of policy at the Delaware Center for Justice, said she is concerned that the amendment codifies the ability for courts to hold people in preventative, pretrial detention without giving them access to bail.
“A lot of people feel that prosecutors already have too much power,” Whittle said. “Or police and prosecutors, depending on what they write something up as, what they charge it as and if we are codifying this list of crimes that, ‘Oh, if you’re charged with this, then the standard bail protocol doesn’t apply to you.’ That really is a concern.”
Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend is sponsoring the constitutional amendment and the enabling legislation. He said the bills aim to address the inherent inequity in which people’s freedom depends on their wealth.
A defendant can be released with no financial requirements, on an unsecured financial bond, on a secured financial bond or on a secured cash-only bond. The pre-assessment tool was to be developed to use data so judges could identify who is at the highest risk of either failure to appear or new criminal activity.
In 2022, the special procedure rule said judges can apply more “intensive conditions” for pretrial release for signal crimes and violent felonies, or if the court determines the defendant would be a substantial public safety or flight risk.
Townsend said having a charge on this list does not automatically mean that person is detained. But it’s important to codify the list, despite concerns about some of the offenses or even having a list.
“It gives guidance,” he said. “You don’t want a situation where very low-level offenders are detained pretrial, if there’s no basis for believing that they are a risk to the community? We’re trying to get away from that system.”
No other committee activity is scheduled for today. I expect the House and Senate sessions to be pretty pro-forma today.
Hey, I can only work with the materials available to me. Perhaps tomorrow will be more noteworthy. See you then.