Texas’s Efforts to Roll Back Protections for the Innocent

Texas Defender | Posted on May 14, 2025 |

Dear Friends,

I wanted to make sure you saw exoneree Michael Morton’s recent opinion piece in the Houston Chronicle denouncing Texas’s efforts to roll back protections for the innocent. Michael Morton was wrongfully convicted of the murder of his wife in 1987. Separated from his then-three-year-old son, Michael spent nearly 25 years in prison before a dedicated team of attorneys, and advancements in DNA technology, finally led to his exoneration in 2011.

Michael Morton left hugging Dale Norwood on March 27 2013 the day Dales brother Mark was found guilty of killing Michaels wife Photo by Patrick DoveAssociated Press — *Michael Morton, left, hugging Dale Norwood on March 27, 2013, the day Dale’s brother Mark was found guilty of killing Michael’s wife. Photo by Patrick Dove/Associated Press*

After Michael’s exoneration, the Texas legislature did the right thing: they passed the Michael Morton Act, a common-sense, bi-partisan initiative to protect the innocent and uphold the constitutional rights of defendants. The law required prosecutors to share all information related to a defendant’s case, which created transparency and significantly reduced the chances of wrongful convictions.

A new bill introduced this session, HB 3330, would gut the Michael Morton Act and put innocent people at risk. Michael isn’t alone; he is one of nearly 500 people who have been exonerated in Texas. Thousands more remain in our prisons today, unable to afford counsel to take up their claims of innocence.

We are optimistic that Texas legislators will stand with Michael Morton and the innocent this session and reject this Michael Morton roll-back bill. As Michael Morton said in his op ed:

All of these changes to the MMA go against the spirit of why it was passed in the first place – the desire to stop wrongful convictions in Texas. Amending the law would be a statement that we no longer care about wrongful convictions and that we’re willing to let them happen again.

I urge the Texas Legislature to not erase the progress we’ve made. My world was torn apart by incarceration, all because a prosecutor didn’t want to share all of the evidence. The legislation passed after I was freed made our justice system fairer, but the proposed changes it will only set us back. More innocent Texans like me will spend decades in prison if this bill is passed. We cannot let that happen.

With gratitude,