Greetings!
I write this month’s edition of Ripples from my home just outside of Houston as Hurricane Beryl ferociously assaults the region. Many have already lost power and the storm surge is flooding the coastal areas and Harris County Streets. Our prayers are for the safety of all.
The concept of safety is often a topic of conversation here in the state’s most populous city as we grapple with an array of public policy proposals to address flooding, traffic dangers, and crime. The latter was again thrust to the forefront last month with news of the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was sexually assaulted and strangled before her battered body was thrown into a Houston creek.
Nungaray’s tragic death, allegedly at the hands of two Venezuelan nationals in the country illegally, spawned outrage over federal policies governing the U.S. border but also over state and local policies regarding bail for violent criminal suspects that emerged in the aftermath of federal lawsuits and a pivotal election that shifted the balance of power.
After Houston police arrested Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos for Nungaray’s murder, the public anxiously awaited the setting of bail for ...
