SAN ANTONIO — Thursday San Antonio City Council is scheduled to approve adding a city charter amendment to the ballot in the election May 6.
But before that approval, Texas courts have been asked to step in to stop the process.
At an afternoon news conference in front of the City Hall chamber, Patrick Von Dohlen of the Responsible Government Coalition explained the group's opposition to the proposal by saying the city should not cooperate with criminals.
"When there is no accountability, mayhem and anarchy will all grow. We have already seen a rise in the crime rate, so we are here to encourage the city council and the mayor to refrain and avoid from ratifying the so-called justice policy, to not put it on the May 6 ballot as a charter amendment ballot measure, because it breaks Texas laws, the constitution statute and the local government code."
A spokesman for the City Attorney's office said they are awaiting a decision on the matter and would issue a statement when that happens.
At the outset of the process, the City Attorney went on the record saying the changes involved are inconsistent with Texas law and local initiatives cannot supersede state law.
The charter amendment proposal, which came about after a petition drive that collected more than enough verified signatures, has the following major components:
- Eliminate the enforcement of low level marijuana charges.
- Ban chokeholds by SAPD in any instance.
- Ban the use of 'no knock' warrants.
- Use citations and diversion programs for low level misdemeanor cases rather than jail terms.
- A provision that SAPD officers would not be responsible for enforcing the statewide abortion law.
- A provision for creating a 'justice director' to promote accountability for the program.
Ananda Tomas, of the Act4SA group that pushed for the measure, said the court challenge should not hold up.
"This is not valid at all. All this group is trying to do is say this should be multiple amendments instead of one proposition on the ballot but that is how voters signed the petition, for it to go up as one amendment. That is how the policy was written. That's how the petition language was written and we don't expect that this will stand in court at all," Tomas said.
Tomas said when the item comes up for discussion at council on Thursday, she expects members of her group will argue to keep the language on the ballot initiative simple to understand. The item is fourth on the agenda. The background packet of information provided to council members reads: "The City Clerk has fulfilled her ministerial duty to verify the petitions in accordance with applicable law and the petition is sufficient. The San Antonio Justice Charter Amendment must be placed on the ballot for the next election."