It was a traffic stop, for failing to use a turn signal that escalated and ended in Sandra Bland's arrest and subsequent death in July of 2015 in Waller County. The bill is authored by Republican James White from Southeast Texas. "House Bill 2754 will limit these arrests, so we don't have all that stress going on in our jails. People are literally dying in our jails."
White say it is not constitutional to detain people for a fine-only misdemeanor offense, but that officers will have the discretion to make an arrest on other class C offenses including simple assault, offenses that deal with the Texas alcohol and beverage code and failure to provide proper ID.
White says says about 500,000 of these citations are issued every year and 10 percent end up with an arrest. "That will significantly decrease and we will truly have the people that are detained, are those people that we are probably scared of in the context of our life, liberty and property and not just people that we're mad at."
The bill passed by a 126-20 margin and now heads to the Texas senate.
