We already have that in Missouri<\/p>\n
Texas Senators Approve Measure Strengthening Right to Self-Defense<\/a> Texas senators have approved a measure strengthening the state\u2019s protections for justified use of force or deadly force in self-defense situations.<\/p>\n Senate Bill 1730<\/a>, filed by State Sen.\u00a0Bob Hall<\/a>\u00a0(R\u2013Edgewood), passed 26-3-2 on Monday.<\/p>\n The measure would prevent a claimant from recovering civil damages for personal injury or death if a grand jury has declined to pursue, thrown out, or acquitted the defendant of criminal charges.<\/p>\n In addition, if the claimant is found to be prohibited from seeking civil action, the proposal would require them to pay court costs and the defendant\u2019s attorney fees.<\/p>\n Hall explained when laying out the measure before lawmakers that Texas is a\u00a0castle doctrine<\/a>\u00a0state, meaning individuals are permitted to use force or deadly force in order to defend themselves on their own property.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, under current Texas law, individuals may file civil lawsuits seeking damages for personal injury or death resulting from the use of force or deadly force, even in cases where the defendants\u2019 actions have been deemed lawful in a criminal proceeding,\u201d claimed Hall.<\/p>\n The senator further argued that the current system creates \u201ca substantial financial and emotional burden\u201d for defendants who are faced with lawsuits after having already been cleared of criminal charges.<\/p>\n State Sen.\u00a0Sarah Eckhardt<\/a>\u00a0(D\u2013Austin) pointed out that the standards for civil and criminal actions are different, with criminal action requiring proof \u201cbeyond a reasonable doubt\u201d and civil action having lesser standards.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hall said that, although he is not an attorney and could not speak on Eckhardt\u2019s comments directly, the intent of his measure is to \u201cprotect someone who has acted lawfully in their home \u2026 from an arduous civil case.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eckhardt pushed back further on the necessity for the measure in the first place, noting that the current\u00a0Civil Practice and Remedies Code<\/a>\u00a0already prevents claimants from seeking civil suits against those who have used self-defense.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it may say that, but I\u2019ve had people that have come to the office that have actually been subject to civil liability, and it cost them a lot of money just to defend themselves,\u201d responded Hall. \u201cAnd they had to pay for it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n While the current civil code does protect against someone facing a civil lawsuit for criminal charges that were dismissed, it does not protect against civil lawsuits involving individuals who used self-defense but were never indicted.<\/p>\n This is what happened in the high-profile case of Kyle Carruth, who was\u00a0forced to settle<\/a>\u00a0a wrongful death civil suit even after a grand jury declined to indict him for a 2021 incident.<\/p>\n Hall told Eckhardt that Carruth was one of the individuals he spoke with.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m seeking to prevent someone from being taken into civil court if they have not been charged with or found guilty of a crime,\u201d said Hall.<\/p>\n SB 1730 will now be sent to lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives.<\/p>\n While senators approved the expansion to the right of self-defense, lawmakers in the Texas House were gearing up to consider a measure by State Rep.\u00a0Ryan Guillen<\/a>\u00a0(R\u2013Rio Grande City) that would achieve a similar effect.<\/p>\n House Bill 170<\/a>\u00a0would prohibit civil actions against a defendant who \u201cuses or threatens to use force or deadly force\u201d if a grand jury has declined to indict them, or if charges have been acquitted or dismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We already have that in Missouri Texas Senators Approve Measure Strengthening Right to Self-Defense While Texas is already a castle doctrine state, individuals whom a grand jury declines to prosecute may still face civil action after exercising self-defense. Texas senators have approved a measure strengthening the state\u2019s protections for justified use of force or deadly … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scratch-a-lib-find-a-tyrant","category-self-defense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110005,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110003\/revisions\/110005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhile Texas is already a castle doctrine state, individuals whom a grand jury declines to prosecute may still face civil action after exercising self-defense.<\/p>\n