Delaware Senate Bill 60 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-2)
Status: Engrossed on June 2 2009 - 50% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2010-03-18 - Amendment HA 1 - Introduced in House
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that will modernize the bail provisions within the Delaware Constitution and clarify the power of the General Assembly to define either certain offenses for which, or circumstances under which, pre-trial release on bail may not be available. The provision that states that only “capital offenses” are not bailable first appeared in its present form in the Delaware Constitution of 1792. At that time, “capital offenses” included many more offenses than the term does today, when the only capital offense is murder first degree, 11 Del. C. 636, when there is a statutory aggravating factor. For example, in 1792, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and burglary were capital offenses, and therefore included within the non-bailable classification. Thus, over time, other crimes that the Framers intended to include as those for which bail might be restricted have become bailable. This Act provides that those offenses which may not permit release on bail may, in addition to capital murder, include those crimes “as the General Assembly may from time to time prescribe by law, when the proof is positive or the presumption great.” This change to Article I, Section 12 will permit the General Assembly to define those offenses that may subject one to a denial of bail. It preserves the state constitutional protection of due process through proof positive hearings related to such offenses. Laws that limit access to bail would be consistent with many other states’ bail laws and practices, and would be constitutional within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

An Act Proposing An Amendment To Article I, Section 12 Of The Delaware Constitution Of 1897 Relating To Criminal Procedures.

Sen. Thurman Adams [D]	Rep. John Atkins [D]	Rep. Edward Bennett [D]	Rep. William Carson [D]
Sen. Nancy Cook [D]	Sen. Anthony DeLuca [D]	Sen. Bruce Ennis [D]	Sen. Gregory Lavelle [R]
Rep. John Mitchell [D]	Rep. Daniel Short [R]

2009-06-02 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 18 N: 0 NV: 2 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2010-03-18		Amendment HA 1 - Introduced in House
2009-06-23		Reported Out of Committee (JUDICIARY) in House with 6 On Its Merits
2009-06-03		Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
2009-06-02		Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 18 YES 0 NO 2 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT
2009-05-06		Reported Out of Committee (JUDICIARY) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
2009-04-07		Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/2bede841c6272c888025698400433a04/79fe7e1dfaa8d309852575850054f9b0?OpenDocument
Text	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis146.nsf/vwLegislation/SB+60/$file/legis.html?open
Roll Call	http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/7712cf7cc0e9227a852568470077336f/4fc751d893194bcb852575c900714bfd?OpenDocument