Smith v. State

¶1dissenting.

¶2Appellant argues in his ninth point of error that the trial court erred in failing to let him inform the jury, as per his explicit request, that if assessed a life sentence, he would be required by law to serve a minimum of fifteen years confinement in the penitentiary before he would even be eligible to be paroled by the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The plurality rejects this contention on the following reasoning. First, the plurality cites the “policy” of this state, grounded in principles of separation of powers, to prohibit jury deliberation on parole in capital cases, and “not to officially inform jurors of the actual consequences of a life sentence.” Op. at 849. Second, notwithstanding the opinion of the United States Supreme Court in Simmons v. South Carolina, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994), the plurality concludes that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not require informing the jury as appellant requested in this cause, and thus does not trump our own state-eonstitutionally-based policy against it.

¶3After careful consideration, I find I must disagree with the plurality in both its conclusions. First, I believe we have been mistaken over the last twenty years to conclude that principles of separation of powers somehow prohibit (we have never expressly explained how) informing jurors in a capital case that a capital defendant sentenced to life imprisonment must serve a certain minimal length of that sentence before he becomes eligible for parole. They do not. Second, that a capital defendant sentenced to serve a life sentence must actually serve a certain minimum length of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole seems to me to be “indisputably relevant” to the determination whether he will “commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society” under former Article 37.071(b)(2), V.A.C.C.P. See Simmons, supra, at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2194, 129 L.Ed.2d at 142. Extrapolating from the principles announced in the plurality opinion in Simmons, the conclusion seems inescapable to me that failure to avail the jury of this “indisputably relevant” information violates due process — at least where, as here, there is evidence that by the time the defendant has served the statutory minimum penitentiary time, his potential “threat to society” at large *858will be greatly reduced. In my view, then, state separation of powers does not prevent, and federal due process positively requires, at least upon request, that the jury be informed of, and allowed to consider for its relevance to future dangerousness, the minimum length of time a capital defendant sentenced to life must serve before becoming parole-eligible.

¶4I.

¶5Appellant committed the instant offense on May 15,1990. An accused convicted of committing a capital murder on that date is required by statute to serve a minimum of fifteen years in the penitentiary, exclusive of good time credits, before becoming eligible for parole. See former Article 42.18, § 8(b), V.A.C.C.P., prior to its amendment by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 652, §§ 10 & 15(b), pp. 2396-97, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. This means that appellant would not even become eligible for release on parole until well into his upper thirties.

¶6At the punishment phase of trial appellant called Dr. Fred Fason, a board certified psychiatrist, to testify. Fason had examined appellant prior to trial for purposes of determining his sanity at the time of the offense and his competency to stand trial. In the course of this examination Fason concluded that appellant was “suffering from antisocial, what is now referred to as antisocial reaetion[,]” formerly known as “sociopathie disturbance.” Fason elaborated that antisocial reaction:

“is characterized by ... the rebelliousness, self-centeredness, concern for oneself and difficulties with the law of antisocial behavior. In essence, it’s the person’s mental problems manifested in their behavior rather than in their thinking or their feelings.

Q How does a person in effect become that way? Again for want of a better phrase, is this something that a person is born with or is it something that the person develops during an individual development as a human being?

A There are somewhat different theories. I will try to explain it to the best that I can. … [T]he first thing about the sociopathie personality disorder or the antisocial individual has to do with what occurs at relatively an early age of development. Most of us when we get to — those of us who have children, remember when our children were a year and a half or two years old. Before the age of two, children that are that age are prone to be very narcissistic. And what I mean by that I mean they view the world and their whole life as when they cry and vomit and mama appears and fees [sic] them. If they are cold, they cry and mama appears and covers them up, etcetera. Now, their views are prone to see the mother as kind of a light, the genie from Aladdin’s lamp. And around the age of two and a half or somewhere in there the child becomes aware that mother looks after him because she loves him, not because she has to. And it’s a whole new ball game. Mother with children experience this. They say that this is when the terrible twos become the terrific threes and the child understands now that Mother is looking after him not because he makes her do that but because she loves him and it’s a whole new ball game.

Now, the narcissistic individual is left in a sense like the year and a half old baby that he feels entitled to whatever he wants. And people get started at this stage of development they become self-centered, they don’t really are [sic] about other people. And this is a sense almost of the sociopath or psychopath. There is an additional factor that gets superimposed and without — and I hope I’m not being disruptive for the Court or the ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I will have to quote what goes on inside the mind of the psychopath to relieve the stress that others of us experience. And it is an attitude that is expressed by what people say to themselves in the phrase — and this is based upon the examination of hundreds of individuals who have fallen into the diagnostic category. Again if you will pardon the expression, it’s fuck it, I don’t care. And this is what the *859individual says to himself about the things that are normally stressful to him. And in order to make it work he has to act like it and many individuals that, as with Mr. Smith when I asked him if he remembers when he started saying that to himself and he clearly remembered it. And it was a way of discounting. It’s a way of avoiding shame. It’s a way of avoiding the ordinary drive control that we use to control our impulses.

… ⅜ …

The sociopathic personality at some point in the development not only is started at the narcissistic level but adopts as a life-style the phrase to himself that enables him to discount the rules. And if you say well, aren’t you ashamed of that, you get that response. Are you concerned that it hurts that person, and again it’s that same phrase. And this frees the sociopathic personality from having to struggle with conflicts that most of us struggle with in life. It comes out in their behavior.

Q Let me clarify that for myself. You used the term drive controls—

A Yes.

Q —that are in place for the normal individuals who interact with other people on a daily basis in our society; is that right?

A Yes.

Q Those drive controls would be shame?

A Yeah. The three drive controls that most of us use to control our impulses are, number one, shame. That is what it says about us. I might get an impulse to do something and it might be a natural impulse, as Freud said, but I might think I’m not that kind of person. I don’t want to be the kind of person that would do something like that. And if I did that I would be ashamed of doing that and I wouldn’t want to feel that way and that would keep me from acting on that impulse. Now, that’s one.

The second one would be guilt. I don’t like to feel guilty. I don’t know about you but I don’t think most normal people like to feel guilty about something. And I don’t like to do things that make me feel guilty. …

The third drive control that we normally use is concern about the consequences. … So that you have those three types of drive control that people use to fit in this society.

Q All right. Go ahead. I’m sorry.

A Mr. Smith doesn’t have those. He quit using those a long time ago.

Q And as I understand, that has been replaced, the concern for those three areas or drive controls have been basically either replaced or covered up with — again my apologies to the jury — the attitude of the phrase fuck it, I don’t care?

A That is right. When his conscience started to speak to him years and years ago the little voice inside says you shouldn’t do that. But he started saying that to his conscience so many years ago that he even quit listening to it and quit hearing it.”

¶7Asked what appellant’s “prognosis” would be, Fason replied:

“... [Y]ou see a lot of people in their twenties with this diagnosis. Anyone in the criminal justice system who has been here a while sees an awful lot of people who are 18 to 29 that would fall into that category. When people get past the age of 30 you don’t see that many in the criminal justice system. And past age 40 you rarely ever see someone with this diagnosis past the age of 40.

⅜ * ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅝

... [Sociopaths] get into their late twenties or early thirties or sometimes mid-thirties and they start realizing they do care and telling themselves they don’t care doesn’t work anymore. And when it doesn’t work anymore then they have to start changing their whole lifestyle.

... What happens to them when they get to their forties? Occasionally you will *860see one but it is relatively rare or at least uncommon in comparison to the number of individuals that fall into this diagnostic category in their twenties.

¶8When appellant next attempted to ask Dr. Fason how long appellant would be required to serve in the penitentiary before he would become eligible for parole, the State objected, and a lengthy bench conference ensued. Ultimately the trial court ruled that the answer to this question was inadmissible because it would invite jurors to disregard the conventional jury instruction charging them not to consider any action the Board of Pardons and Paroles might take on some future occasion. Dr. Fason was ultimately allowed to testify in response to questioning by appellant, however, that “the length of time that a person is locked up might be a factor in determining whether or not that person is a danger to this community!)]”1

¶9Later, at the jury charge conference, appellant requested “that the parole instruction be withdrawn and that the defendant be permitted through counsel to instruct the jury and tell the jury as to the length of time the defendant in all probability will be forced to spend ... [t]hat it would be 15 years.” This request was denied. The trial court instructed the jury:

“During your deliberations, you are not to consider or discuss any possible action of the Board of Pardons and Paroles Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or of the Governor, or how long the defendant would be required to serve to satisfy a sentence of life imprisonment.”

¶10On one occasion during his final summation, appellant’s counsel attempted an oblique rhetorical allusion to the fact that appellant would not be a danger to the general public by the time he might be paroled, viz: “I assure you that by the time the bus from Texas Department of Corrections drops him off at the bus stop most of us won’t be around any more.” The State’s objection to this argument was sustained, and the jury instructed to disregard it.

¶11II.

¶12The plurality observes that the jury in a capital ease may not “consider parole in any manner when considering whether a capital defendant should be sentenced to life or death.” Op. at 849. It is true that we have consistently held that judicial consideration of parole in sentencing would be improper in capital as well as non-capital cases. We have said so as early as Freeman v. State, 556 S.W.2d 287, at 304 (Tex.Cr.App.1977), and as late as Garcia v. State, 887 S.W.2d 846, 860 (Tex.Cr.App.1994). As a general proposition this is undoubtedly correct. “The evil to be avoided is the consideration by the jury of parole in assessing punishment.” Rose v. State, 752 S.W.2d 529, at 535 (Tex.Cr.App. 1987) (Opinion on original submission), citing Clark v. State, 643 S.W.2d 723, at 725 (Tex. Cr.App.1982).

¶13In a capital ease in Texas, however, the jury does not “assess punishment.” See Boyd v. State, 811 S.W.2d 105, at 120 (Tex. Cr.App.1991). Indeed, as of the time of appellant’s trial, capital juries did not even decide “whether a capital defendant should be sentenced to life or death.” They simply answered special issues, questions of fact relating to the deliberateness with which the defendant acted to cause the death of the deceased, the probability he would be a continuing threat to society, and whether his killing of the deceased was a reasonable response to provocation, if any. See former Article 37.071(b), V.A.C.C.P. That the jury in a capital punishment proceeding might *861consider the minimum length of time a capital defendant serving a life sentence must actually serve before becoming eligible for parole, relevant to assessing the probability of his future dangerousness, does not mean it is considering parole “in assessing punishment.”

¶14A

¶15The Court has long held in non-capital cases that jury consideration of when the Board of Pardons and Paroles might release a convict on parole would constitute a judicial encroachment upon a manifestly executive function, in violation of Article II, § 1 of the Texas Constitution. This is surely correct. In Sawders v. State, 580 S.W.2d 349, at 351 (Tex.Cr.App.1978), we explained:

“[i]t would be improper for punishment to be based on an expectation that clemency powers would be exercised, and it would be unconstitutional to attempt to delay exercise of the clemency powers or to avoid the possible granting of parole by increasing punishment in anticipation thereof.”

¶16See also Rose v. State, supra, at 532. It is for this reason that jury consideration of parole in a non-capital case is considered always to constitute jury misconduct under former Article 40.03(8), V.A.C.C.P., and now, Tex.RApp.Pro., Rule 30(b)(8). Sanders v. State, supra, at 352.

¶17In 1985 the Legislature added Section 4 to Article 37.07, V.A.C.C.P. See Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 576, § 1, p. 2195, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. This provision for the first time required trial courts to instruct juries in non-capital felony trials generally about the law of parole, but specifically that “[y]ou are not to consider the manner in which the parole law may be applied to this particular defendant.” Nevertheless, the statutory instruction did authorize the jury in some unspecified sense to “consider the existence of the parole law and good conduct time.” We therefore declared § 4(a) of Article 37.07 unconstitutional, on the basis, inter alia, that it violated separation of powers under Article II, § 1, supra. Rose v. State, supra, at 535.

¶18The voters of Texas approved an amendment to Article IV, § 11 of the Texas Constitution in 1989 that for the first time authorized the Legislature to enact “laws that require or permit courts to inform juries about the effect of ... eligibility for parole ... on the period of incarceration served by a defendant convicted of a criminal offense.” See Acts 1989, 71st Leg., S.J.R. 4, § 1, p. 6414, approved Nov. 7, 1989. At the same time the Legislature reenacted Section 4 of Article 37.07, supra, thus reinstating the jury charge provisions we had struck down in Rose. See Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 103, § 1, p. 442, effective upon approval of the constitutional amendment, Nov. 7, 1989. This Court later held that, Rosenotwithstanding, a jury instruction given pursuant to the reenacted provision did not violate separation of powers. Oakley v. State, 830 S.W.2d 107, at 110 (Tex.Cr.App.1992).

¶19By its terms, reenacted Article 37.07, § 4 expressly exempts capital cases from its operation. Thus, the Legislature has not expressly provided any law that permits or requires courts to inform juries of the effect of eligibility for parole on the period of incarceration that a capital defendant sentenced to life imprisonment must serve.2 Article IV, § 11, supra. It may be argued accordingly *862that, in the absence of such an express provision, the separation of powers principle of Sanders and Rosestill prevails, preventing the trial court in a capital case from instructing the jury at punishment in any manner other than as the jury in this cause was in fact instructed, viz: that it may not consider any possible action of the Board of Pardons and Paroles or how long the defendant may actually have to serve to satisfy a life sentence.

¶20This argument presupposes, however, that any jury instruction regarding parole in a capital case will violate separation of powers in the same way we perceived it would in Sanders. It presumes that a jury instruction about the parole law in a capital case will invite the jury to encroach upon the executive prerogative to grant parole in much the same way we feared that a jury so instructed in a non-capital ease would. It seems to me, however, that that presumption merits greater scrutiny, and to that I now turn.

¶21B.

¶22The body of caselaw culminating in Sanders has since been incorporated uncritically into our capital jurisprudence. Without stopping to ask whether, and if so to what extent, jury consideration of parole in the punishment phase of a capital case really would encroach upon the executive function, the Court has simply assumed that it would, and ruled accordingly. In O’Bryan v. State, 591 S.W.2d 464 (Tex.Cr.App.1979), for example, the defendant requested a jury instruction that explained the parole process, and function of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and then admonished the jury “not to consider in their deliberations parole or whether [the defendant] might be paroled at some date in the future.” Id., at 478. In holding the trial did not abuse its discretion in fading to give the requested instruction, the Court first observed that “[t]he matter of parole or a defendant’s release thereon is not a proper consideration for a jury’s deliberations on punishment.” Id.Without explication, the Court then concluded: “This is also true in a capital case where the jury’s task at the punishment stage is to answer the special issues.” But is this necessarily so?

¶23The earliest case in which a capital defendant expressly requested an instruction educating the jury as to the minimum time he would have to serve before becoming eligible for parole is Franklin v. State, 693 S.W.2d 420 (Tex.Cr.App.1985). There the defendant requested that the jury be instructed that:

“you are not to consider how much of his sentence the defendant would be required to serve before being released on parole, if his punishment is assessed at life imprisonment. You are instructed, however, that under the law, a person who is serving a sentence of life imprisonment for the offense of capital murder may not be considered for release on parole until his actual calendar time served, without consideration of good conduct time, is twenty (20) years.”

¶24The trial court refused this instruction, and Franklin complained of it on appeal. This Court simply quoted the above language from O’Bryan v. State, supra, as if it were self-evidently dispositive of Franklin’s contention, and overruled this ground of error. But O’Bryandid not purport to address the question whether a specific jury instruction on minimum parole eligibility might be appropriate insofar as it relates to the jury’s resolution of the question whether the accused will probably constitute a continuing threat to society. With all due respect, the matter is not as simple as we thought in Franklin.

¶25Likewise in Andrade v. State, 700 S.W.2d 585 (Tex.Cr.App.1985), the defendant argued the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that, if sentenced to life imprisonment, he would not become eligible for parole until serving at least twenty calendar years. This *863Court rejected this contention on authority of its earlier decision in Williams v. State, 668 S.W.2d 692 (Tex.Cr.App.1983). But in Williamsthe Court had a different question before it. There the defendant had objected to an instruction that was submitted to the jury cautioning it not to consider “how long this defendant would be required to serve to satisfy a sentence of life imprisonment.” We held this instruction was not erroneous. That a capital jury may properly be admonished not to speculate as to the length of time a defendant will actually serve before he is paroled, however, does not necessarily mean that same jury may not also be told that he will have to serve a certain actual calendar time before he even becomes eligible for parole. The two instructions are not mutually exclusive, and propriety of the former does not logically establish impropriety of the latter. In my view this is a critical distinction, but one which has yet to be examined by the Court. Williamsdoes not support the holding in Andradeany more than O’Bryansupported the holding in Franklin.

¶26In Knox v. State, 744 S.W.2d 53 (Tex.Cr. App.1987), the defendant requested an instruction like the one we held Andrade was not entitled to. His request was denied. On appeal he invited this Court to “revisit” its holding in Andradein view of the promulgation of Article 37.07, § 4, supra. We rightly observed that this provision on its face does not apply to capital eases. But Knox argued further that an instruction on the minimum period a capital convict sentenced to life imprisonment must serve before becoming eligible for parole “is necessary to guide the jury in answering the [future dangerousness] special issue.” The Court’s response to this argument is a puzzle. We said:

“[I]f it is clear that Article 37.07, § 4(a), does not apply to capital felonies, then it is also clear that jurors in capital cases should focus solely on the special issues submitted to them during the punishment phase. … Since jurors do not actually ‘sentence’ a defendant in Texas capital cases, their attention should be directed only to answering the special issues without regard to the sentence that will ultimately be imposed.”

¶27Id., at 64 (emphasis in the original). It is of course true that the jury should focus on resolving the special issues at the punishment phase of a capital case, since that is its only function at that juncture. It is equally true that the jury should answer the special issues without regard for the outcome. In short, the jury’s role is simply to find facts. To point this out, however, was hardly sufficient to answer Knox’s contention. He argued that his requested instruction should have been given because minimum parole eligibility is in fact relevant to the jury’s fact-finding function insofar as it relates to the issue of future dangerousness. We did not agree or disagree with this contention. We apparently ignored it.

¶28We were once again confronted with a claim, in Jones v. State, 843 S.W.2d 487, at 495 (Tex.Cr.App.1992), that a capital defendant should have been allowed to inform the jury that “he would be confined a minimum of 20 years” in the event he were sentenced to life imprisonment. Citing O’Bryanand its progeny for the familiar but not-dispositive proposition that parole in general is not a proper consideration for capital juries, we overruled Jones’ claim. Once again we failed squarely to address the contention that knowledge of the minimum parole eligibility date would be relevant to the jury’s resolution of the second special issue. In other cases we have rejected generic claims that capital juries should have been instructed on “the parole laws.” E.g., Stoker v. State, 788 S.W.2d 1, at 16 (Tex.Cr.App.1989); Elliott v. State, 858 S.W.2d 478, at 489-490 (Tex.Cr. App.1993); Garcia v. State, supra. We have yet, however, to offer a coherent explanation of why the minimum period a capital convict who is assessed a life sentence must serve to become eligible for parole should not be relevant to the issue of future dangerousness. Nor have we explained precisely how an instruction on minimum parole eligibility would violate Article II, § 1, supra. In my view the information is relevant, and inform*864ing the jury of it would not violate separation of powers.

¶29c.

¶30Relevance

¶31Evidence is relevant, under Tex.R.Cr. Evid., Rule 401, if it has “any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” Moreover, “[a]ll relevant evidence is admissible,” except as otherwise provided by, inter alia, the state constitution. Tex.R.Cr.Evid., Rule 402. If the fact that appellant must serve at least fifteen years of a life sentence has any tendency to make more or less probable that he will commit future acts of violence so as to constitute a continuing threat to society, then that fact cannot be excluded from the jury’s consideration, at least not on the basis that it lacks relevance.

¶32Is minimum parole eligibility relevant in this sense? It seems to me that, at least in combination with other evidence, it often is. We have consistently held that “society” is to be understood in its common acceptation in ordinary English, and that as such, its meaning is not limited either to the “society” existing outside the walls of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division, or to that “society” that exists within those walls. We have construed “society” to embrace both. See, e.g., Sterling v. State, 830 S.W.2d 114, at 120, n. 5 (Tex.Cr.App. 1992); Caldwell v. State, 818 S.W.2d 790, at 798-99 (Tex.Cr.App.1991); Boyd v. State, supra, at 118, n. 12; Rougeau v. State, 738 S.W.2d 651, at 660 (Tex.Cr.App.1987). In predicting “the fact of consequence,” viz: whether a particular capital defendant will constitute a continuing threat to “society,” it would undoubtedly aid the jury to know which aspect of society he will be exposed to, and when.

¶33We often see evidence, for example, that a capital defendant presents a much greater threat to the “society” at large than to the prison population. Sometimes, as in the instant case, there is evidence that in time the accused will not present much of a threat to either the prison population or the general public. See also, e.g., Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839 (Tex.Cr.App.1991). In combination with this kind of evidence, knowing that the accused, if assessed a life sentence, will spend at least a certain minimum period of time incarcerated helps the jury to decide the probability that he will be a continuing threat to society, because it helps the jurors identify where he will be. Thus they can tell what portion of society may or may not be at risk. If the defendant must spend at least fifteen years in prison to satisfy a capital sentence of life imprisonment, the jury must decide the probability he will pose a threat to the prison population for at least that long, and then, the probability he will threaten the general public after that. Moreover, if there is evidence, as here, that in fifteen years the accused will not constitute a significant danger either inside or outside prison walls, the fact that he will be incarcerated until then tends to minimize the possibility of his ever constituting a threat, at least to the public at large. In short, appellant’s location, to the extent it can be foretold with relative certainty, is an evidentiary fact from which the elemental fact, whether he will be a continuing threat to “society,” may be, in part, derived. This evidentiary fact is “indisputably relevant” even under the provisions of our rules of criminal evidence.

¶34Separation of Powers

¶35Unless imparting this relevant evidentiary fact to the jury would violate separation of powers under Sanders, then, it ought to be accessible to the factfinder. In my view, the danger we noted in Sanders simply does not pertain to the question whether a capital jury should be informed how long a defendant who is sentenced to life imprisonment will have to serve before he becomes eligible for parole. Jury consideration of the minimum parole eligibility date as it relates to the issue of future dangerousness is manifestly a judicial function. It does not encroach upon the executive prerogative at all.

¶36*865At the punishment phase of a non-capital criminal case, the jury’s function is not, as in a capital case, to make discrete findings of fact. Instead, the jury decides what term of punishment is appropriate within the statutorily prescribed range. “Deciding what punishment to assess is a normative process, not intrinsically factbound.” Murphy v. State, 777 S.W.2d 44, at 63 (Tex.Cr.App.1988) (Plurality opinion on State’s motion for rehearing). There is always the danger in a non-capital punishment proceeding that the jury, cognizant of the parole law, will abuse its wide discretion to decide what punishment is appropriate by imposing a sentence that takes the possibility of parole into account, and tries to adjust for it.3 This encroaches unconstitutionally upon the executive function in that it attempts to anticipate and circumscribe exercise of the executive authority to grant parole. Sanders v. State, supra, at 351.

¶37In a capital punishment proceeding the jury’s role is more limited. The capital jury does not “assess punishment.” Rather, it determines the existence of discrete facts, such as the probability the accused will commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. Punishment is assessed according to the jury’s resolution of these fact issues. See former Article 37.071(e), V.A.C.C.P. Capital jurors have no occasion to anticipate and circumscribe the executive parole authority. Because they do not “assess punishment” at all, they cannot assess death instead of a life sentence in order to prevent the eventual release of the accused on parole. Capital jurors just find facts. They weigh relevant information and answer special issues accordingly. Thus, when capital jurors consider the minimum parole eligibility date of a capital defendant serving a life sentence, they only use that information to more accurately gauge the probability of his future dangerousness — manifestly a judicial function. They do not try to predict when he will actually be released on parole.4 Indeed, they do not pretermit, second-guess or otherwise interfere with any power or prerogative of the executive branch in any way. It therefore cannot be said that they violate the principle of separation of powers articulated in Sanders.

¶38D.

¶39An instruction on minimum parole eligibility in a capital case does not offend Article II, § 1, supra. Our handful of cases tacitly assuming that it does, such as Franklin, An-drade, and Knox, all supra, ought to be disapproved. Moreover, that Article 37.07, § 4, supra, does not expressly authorize a parole instruction in a capital case does not mean a capital jury cannot be informed as to minimum parole eligibility. That provision, in tandem with the amendment to Article IV, § 11, supra, was meant to authorize parole instructions notwithstanding any violation of separation of powers. Because informing a *866capital jury on minimum parole eligibility does not violate separation of powers in the first instance, express legislative authorization for an instruction, pursuant to Article IV, § 11, supra, is unnecessary.

¶40Thus, there is no constitutional or statutory impediment in Texas to informing capital jurors of the minimum period of time an accused sentenced to life imprisonment for a capital offense must serve to become eligible for parole.5 There is no real “policy” against it, as the plurality perceives. Minimum parole eligibility is certainly relevant, under Rules 401 and 402 of the Rules of Criminal Evidence, and any evidence or instruction informing the jury of it ought to be permitted for that simple reason, if no other. Moreover, federal due process may require it, under Simmons v. South Carolina, supra. If so, there is no conflict with Texas law.

¶41III.

¶42Appellant contends there is in fact such a federal due process requirement. It is less than evident, reading Simmonson its face, that due process requires informing a capital jury of the statutory minimum period of service on a life sentence before parole becomes available under the law. On its face Simmonsseems only to require informing the jury that parole is unavailable whenever that is true as a matter of state law and the issue of future dangerousness has been injected into the case. We have no provision for life-scms-parole in Texas. Nevertheless, logically extending the due process principle announced in Simmonsleads me inexorably to conclude that the trial court erred in failing to allow appellant to inform the jury as he requested to do in this case.

¶43Speaking for a plurality in Simmons, Justice Blackmun announced at the outset:

“that where the defendant’s future dangerousness is at issue, and state law prohibits the defendant’s release on parole, due process requires that the sentencing jury be informed that the defendant is parole ineligible.”

¶44— U.S. at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2190, 129 L.Ed.2d at 138. Because our legislature has made future dangerousness one of the statutory criteria for imposition of the death penalty, it is “at issue” in every capital punishment proceeding in which the State seeks a sentence of death. Thus, it appears that the first prong of the Simmonsdue process test is always met in Texas. However, under Texas law capital murder defendants sentenced to life imprisonment are not ineligible for parole. Justice O’Connor, in her concurring opinion, strongly suggests that the due process principle extends only when parole is not an available alternative.6 Several jurisdictions have already interpreted Simmonsto be limited in this fashion.7 In the instant case, without any analysis, the plurality does *867too. Op. at-. On that basis the plurality concludes that the holding in Simmonshas no application in Texas. In my view, however, the principle of Simmonstranscends its factual context, and does apply in Texas in some instances.

¶45A

¶46Future dangerousness is not automatically at issue in South Carolina as it is in Texas. In Simmons, however, the prosecutor had expressly invited the jury in his closing argument to factor the defendant’s future dangerousness into its decision whether to assess life or death. Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2190-2191, 129 L.Ed.2d at 139.8 The defendant had proffered evidence that he was only a threat to elderly women, a class of people he would not encounter in the penitentiary. Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2191, 129 L.Ed.2d at 139. Out of the jury’s presence he presented public-opinion evidence that jury-eligible adults in South Carolina largely assumed a life-sentenced murderer would be paroled at some point. Id.,— U.S. at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2191, 129 L.Ed.2d at 140. Nevertheless, Simmons’ counsel was prevented from voir diring the jury panel on the issue of parole eligibility. Arguing that the public misperception about parole eligibility needed to be dispelled in his cause, Simmons requested jury instructions that would inform the jury of the law. The trial court refused, instructing the jury instead that it should disregard parole and parole eligibility, and that it should construe “life imprisonment” according to its ordinary meaning. Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2192, 129 L.Ed.2d at 140.

¶47In holding that the trial court violated due process in failing to inform the jury of the unavailability of parole, the plurality in Simmonsobserved:

“In assessing future dangerousness, the actual duration of the defendant’s prison sentence is indisputably relevant. Holding all other factors constant, it is entirely reasonable for a sentencing jury to view a defendant who is eligible for parole as a greater threat to society than a defendant who is not. Indeed, there may be no greater assurance of a defendant’s future nondangerousness to the public than the fact that he never will be released on parole. The trial court’s refusal to apprise the jury of information so crucial to its sentencing determination, particularly when the prosecution alluded to the defendant’s future dangerousness in its argument to the jury, cannot be reconciled with our well established precedents interpreting the Due Process Clause.”

¶48Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2194, 129 L.Ed.2d at 142-43. Accordingly, the plurality held that denying the jury “a straight answer” regarding availability of parole impaired Simmons’ ability to “deny or explain” the State’s showing of his future dangerousness, and thereby violated his right to due process of law. Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2195 & 2196, 129 L.Ed.2d at 144 & 145-46, quoting Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, at 362, 97 S.Ct. 1197, at 1207, 51 L.Ed.2d 393, at 404r405 (1977).

¶49Simmonsthus stands for the proposition that whenever future dangerousness is in issue in a capital punishment proceeding “the actual duration of the defendant’s prison sentence is indisputably relevant.” Id.,-U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2194, 129 L.Ed.2d at 142. When parole is not an option at all, that fact is relevant in the sense that it tells the jurors where the capital defendant will spend the rest of his natural life, so that they may confine their deliberations on future dangerousness to the risk he poses to prison society. It tends to make less probable that he will be a continuing threat at least to the general public. Moreover, to the extent the capital *868defendant can show, as could Simmons himself, that he does not pose a threat even to the inmate population, unavailability of parole tends to make less probable that he will be a threat to any facet of society at all.

¶50This logic is not limited to the no-parole situation. On the contrary, it extends to any evidence of “the actual duration of the defendant’s prison sentence.” How much of his life the capital defendant will spend in prison is relevant to the future dangerousness determination in exactly the same way as the fact that he will spend the rest of his life there. It informs the jurors where the capital defendant will be so that they can tell what “society” may or may not be at risk. See Part IIC, ante. If you add other evidence that by the time the capital defendant becomes eligible for parole he will not likely pose a threat to any facet of society, then the fact that he must serve a specific minimum period of time in prison before he can be paroled takes on practically the same significance as no parole eligibility at all. It tends to show he will never be a threat to the public at large. Therefore, if failing to inform the jury of the “indisputably relevant” fact that a capital defendant can never be paroled violates due process, as the plurality opinion in Simmonsestablishes, then so, at least under some circumstances, does failing to inform the jury of the minimum parole eligibility date.9 We should so hold.

¶51B.

¶52The plurality mentions California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992, 103 S.Ct. 3446, 77 L.Ed.2d 1171 (1983), almost in passing. Op. at 849. The suggestion seems to be that when a state makes parole available to a capital defendant sentenced to life imprisonment, the Supreme Court will not interfere with the state’s decision whether to inform juries of the parole law. Admittedly, in Simmonsthe plurality itself did observe:

“that Ramosstands for the broad proposition that we generally will defer to a State’s determination as to what a jury should and should not be told about sentencing. In a State in which parole is available, how the jury’s knowledge of parole availability will affect the decision whether or not to impose the death penalty is speculative, and we shall not lightly second-guess a decision whether or not to inform a jury of information regarding parole. States reasonably may conclude that truthful information regarding the availability of commutation, pardon, and the like, should be kept from the jury in order to provide ‘greater protection in [the States’] criminal justice system than the Federal Constitution requires.’ [California v. Ramos], 463 U.S., at 1014, 103 S.Ct., at 3460.”

¶53As I read them, however, neither Ramositself, nor the plurality’s discussion of Ramosin Simmons, justifies failing to inform a capital jury of minimum parole eligibility.

¶54In the first place, we have never “reasonably” concluded in Texas that information about parole eligibility should be kept from capital juries, at least not in order to “provide greater protection than the Federal Constitution requires.” We have basically assumed that jury consideration of parole in general would violate separation of powers, even in a capital case, and is therefore prohibited. That assumption does not “protect” a capital defendant at all, much less does it provide greater protection than the Federal Constitution. Quite the contrary, it insulates the jury from information that is “indisputably relevant” to rebut the State’s evidence *869on the issue of future dangerousness. In any event, the assumption itself is incorrect. It is precisely because information about minimum parole eligibility is relevant to the future dangerousness determination that giving it to the jury does not violate separation of powers. See Part IIC, ante.10We have yet to offer any principled reason for keeping information about parole from a capital sentencing jury in Texas.

¶55Second, and more importantly, today’s plurality cannot fairly plead “speculativeness” to argue that informing a capital jury about minimum parole eligibility does not fall within the Simmonsdue process requirement. There is nothing remotely speculative about the fact that, if sentenced to life imprisonment, appellant would have to serve a minimum of fifteen years before becoming eligible for parole. See former Article 42.18, § 8(b), supra. Nor is there anything speculative about “how the jury’s knowledge of parole availability will affect the decision whether or not to impose the death penalty.” Jurors in Texas do not decide whether to impose a life or death sentence. They answer special issues. That we can even say that minimum parole eligibility is “indisputably relevant” to the jury’s determination of the future dangerousness issue means we know precisely “how” the jurors will consider that fact. They consider it to the extent, and only to the extent, that it militates either for or against a finding of future dangerousness. When it militates against a finding of future dangerousness, Simmonsdictates that the jury hear it, Ramosnotwithstanding.11

¶56C.

¶57Finally, the plurality maintains that other procedural safeguards during the course of trial prevented the parties from placing parole eligibility in issue, and therefore appellant did not need to present the fact of minimum parole eligibility to “deny or explain” anything. Op at 850-853. Texas law precludes either party from broaching the subject of parole during voir dire, except to ascertain whether veniremen can follow instructions requiring jurors to ignore parole. It also prevents prosecutors from arguing expressly that the jury should answer special issues affirmatively in order to obviate the possibility a capital defendant may ever be paroled. Under Texas law the jury is positively instructed, as in this case, to disregard parole in its deliberations. Protections against jury misconduct guarantee that if his jury nevertheless does consider parole, the capital defendant may obtain a new trial. These legal safeguards, the plurality assures us, are sufficient to keep eligibility for parole from entering into the jury’s deliberations, and nothing is injected into the sentencer’s field of vision that the capital defendant is prevented from addressing. The plurality relies in large measure upon Gardner v. Florida, supra.

¶58The plurality fails to acknowledge that the principle of due process articulated in Gardnerwas later expanded in Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986), and in Simmonsitself. It is true that the holding in Gardneritself extends no further than its facts. In Gardnerthe sentencing judge rejected an advisory jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment in favor of a sentence of death based in part upon a confidential presentence report that the defendant was given no chance to review. A plurality of the Supreme Court held that due process was violated because the defendant was afforded no chance to *870“deny or explain” the contents of the report, and hence no chance to participate meaningfully in the adversarial process by which Florida decides whether to impose a life or death sentence. Id.,480 U.S. at 360 & 362, 97 S.Ct. at 1206 & 1207, 61 L.Ed.2d at 403 & 404. But the principle in Gardnerhas since been extended beyond its factual context. In Skipper v. South Carolina, supra, the majority observed:

“Where the prosecution specifically relies on a prediction of future dangerousness in asking for the death penalty, it is not only [the Eighth Amendment] that requires that the defendant be afforded an opportunity to introduce evidence on this point; it is also the elemental due process requirement that a defendant not be sentenced to death ‘on the basis of information which he had no opportunity to deny or explain.’ Gardner v. Florida, [supra].”

¶59IdL, 476 U.S. at 6, n. 1,106 S.Ct. at 1671, n. 1, 90 L.Ed.2d at 7, n. 1 (emphasis added).

¶60On the strength of this passage from Skipper, the plurality in Simmonsconcluded that any time future dangerousness is put in issue, the defendant must be allowed to rebut with information that he can never be paroled, so that whatever risk he poses is limited to the prison population. — U.S. at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2194, 2194-2196 & n. 5,129 L.Ed.2d at 142-143, 143-144 & n. 5.12 Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion agreed with the plurality that simply placing future dangerousness in issue is enough to trigger the due process requirement. Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2200-2201, 129 L.Ed.2d at 150-151. One of Justice Scalia’s principal complaints in dissent was that seven members of the Court had unduly imposed “a rule at least as sweeping as this: that the Due Process Clause overrides state law limiting the admissibility of information concerning parole whenever the prosecution argues future dangerousness.” Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2203, 129 L.Ed.2d at 164 (emphasis in the original). In Texas, of course, the prosecution always argues future dangerousness. If it is correct, therefore, that the Simmonsprinciple extends also to informing the jury in some cases about minimum parole eligibility, see Part IIIA, ante, the plurality cannot escape that principle by reverting to the earlier decision in Gardner. For under Simmons, minimum parole eligibility may serve, together with other evidence, to “deny or explain” the State’s case for future dangerousness in every capital punishment proceeding in Texas.

¶61Moreover, it does not satisfy Simmonsto implement state procedures designed to insulate the jury entirely from any consideration of parole. Due process requires that a capital defendant be afforded “a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.” Id.,— U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2194, 129 L.Ed.2d at 143, quoting Crane v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683, at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142, at 2146, 90 L.Ed.2d 636, at 645 (1986). Preventing either side from broaching the subject of minimum parole eligibility when that fact is “indisputably relevant” to rebut the State’s evidence of future dangerousness denies a capital defendant that opportunity. Simmons, supra, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2198, 129 L.Ed.2d at 147.13 This denial might be constitutionally acceptable if it *871somehow served to enhance the overall fairness of the proceeding or to heighten the reliability of the jury’s resolution of the special issues. See Crane v. Kentucky, supra, 476 U.S. at 690, 106 S.Ct. at 2146, 90 L.Ed.2d at 644. But as I have labored to show in the balance of this opinion, it does not. The plurality errs to conclude that when procedural steps are taken to prevent a capital jury from considering parole for any purpose, the defendant’s due process rights as defined by Simmonshave been preserved.

¶62IV.

¶63Turning to the instant cause, I am compelled to conclude that appellant was denied due process under Simmons. Dr. Fason testified that appellant was a sociopath, and that the likelihood of recidivism for sociopaths by the time they reach their thirties is low, and by the age of forty, even lower. Compare Matson v. State, supra. Had it been informed that by law appellant was not even eligible for parole on a life sentence until serving fifteen years, by which time he would be well into his upper thirties, the jury would have been justified in concluding that his threat to the public at large was insignificant.14 Without that information, the jury was probably left wondering exactly what the relevance of Dr. Fason’s testimony was. See n. 9, ante. Indeed, without that information, but given Dr. Fason’s testimony, the jury might have been tempted to disregard the trial court’s instruction not to consider parole for any purpose, and engaged in the speculative enterprise of trying to guess when appellant would become eligible for parole. Surely it is preferable to inform capital jurors accurately on the law of parole eligibility.

¶64For the reasons I have given in Part III, ante, I conclude that due process requires that a capital defendant be allowed, on request, to inform the jury on the law of minimum parole eligibility, at least whenever there is other evidence, as in this ease, to indicate he may not constitute a continuing threat to society by the time he is parole-eligible. Nothing in the law of Texas should be construed to stand in the way. Part II, ante. Accordingly, the trial court erred in failing to allow appellant to inform the jury as he requested.

¶65The Supreme Court did not indicate whether Simmonserror is subject to a constitutional harmless error analysis. See Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). The Simmonsplurality simply reversed the cause and remanded it to South Carolina for unspecified further proceedings. Simmons, supra, - U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2198, 129 L.Ed.2d at 147. Assuming Simmonserror is subject to a harm analysis, I cannot say to a level of confidence beyond a reasonable doubt that it was harmless in this case. Had the jury in appellant’s trial been informed that he could not become eligible for parole for fifteen years, they might well have considered that information, together with Dr. Fason’s testimony, sufficient to justify a negative answer to the special issue whether he would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.

¶66Accordingly, I would vacate the trial court’s judgment in this cause and remand the cause for a new punishment proceeding.15*872Because the plurality does not, I respectfully dissent.16

¶85dissenting.

¶86In his eleventh point of error, appellant claims that the trial court erred in refusing his jury instruction on the statutory minimum period of time a capital defendant sentenced to life must serve before becoming eligible for parole in violation of the cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Appellant argues that in considering the special issue on future dangerousness,1 the jury should have been instructed that if appellant was given a life sentence, he would not be eligible for parole for a period of 15 years.2 Appellant objected to the trial court’s punishment instruction admonishing the jury that it could not consider the minimum time appellant would have to serve before becoming eligible for parole.3 Because the plurality holds that the trial judge’s refusal of appellant’s instruction did not violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, I dissent.

¶87I. Relevant Evidence and Discussion

¶88During the punishment phase, Dr. Fason, a psychiatrist, testified on appellant’s behalf *873that he had diagnosed appellant as suffering from “antisocial reaction.” He explained that antisocial reaction is a sociopathic personality disorder characterized by “rebelliousness against the rules of society, difficulties in conforming to common social standard and self-destructiveness and behavior patterns.”

¶89Dr. Fason stated that appellant does not have the normal types of “drive controls” that people use to function in this society. He testified that appellant lacks the “drive controls” of shame, guilt, and concern for consequences; instead appellant maintains the attitude “Fuck it, I don’t care.” Dr. Fason offered his opinion that appellant “is not the kind of individual that has been pondering very much of anything very carefully since he decided that he didn’t care, which was a long, long time ago.... [T]hat’s why he’s always in trouble.”

¶90When asked about the prognosis of individuals diagnosed with antisocial reaction, Dr. Fason replied:

[Y]ou see alot [sic] of people in their twenties with this diagnosis. Anyone in the criminal justice system who has been here a while [sic] sees an awful lot of people who are 18 to 29 that would fall into that category. When people get past the age of 30, you don’t see that many in the criminal justice system. And past age 40 you rarely ever see someone with this diagnosis past the age of 40.

⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅝ ⅜ ⅜

Something happens to affect those individuals as they get into their thirties.... They get into their late twenties or early thirties or sometimes mid-thirties and they start realizing they do care and telling themselves they don’t care doesn’t work anymore. And when it doesn’t work anymore they have to start changing their whole life-style [sic].

¶91Dr. Fason agreed with counsel for appellant that there is a diminishing number of individuals in the criminal justice system with psychopathic or personality disorders from age forty on.4 He later agreed with the trial court that persons suffering from antisocial reaction are much less likely to engage in crimes of violence once they reach the age of forty. On redirect, Dr. Fason observed that “there may be circumstances that arise after [a] person [convicted of capital murder] is incarcerated for life in the penitentiary that may remove that potential threat....” He agreed with appellant’s statement that the length of time a person is locked up is a factor in determining whether a person is a danger to the community.

¶92Appellant argues that in order to give mitigating effect to Dr. Fason’s testimony, the jury should have been instructed on the minimum amount of time appellant would have to serve before becoming eligible for parole. During an extensive discussion with counsel outside the presence of the jury, the trial court noted that in the absence of evidence like Dr. Fason’s, a jury could likely follow instructions not to consider parole, how long a defendant would be required to serve, or action by the Board of Pardons and Parole. However, the court stated, “By throwing evidence in like Mr. Parnham is suggesting [Dr. Fason’s testimony], that might sort of pull the switch and cause them to talk about and consider those things.” Later in the discussion, the trial court suggested that juror misunderstanding could result:

[Y]ou may have these people sitting here thinking he’s going to spend life up there [in prison] and be up there for life. I don’t know. But then somebody may say he would be on the streets in 15 years, he will be back out there for shorter than 15 years so maybe we should just go ahead and answer these issues yes. And that may be inappropriate_ [P]raetically every ju-

ror talks about the leniency of Texas laws dealing with parole. And it’s a very troublesome area.

⅜ ⅜ ⅝ ⅜ ⅝ ⅜

I obviously think they [the jurors] are going to read between the lines in this *874instruction and [are] going to understand that this instruction [not to consider the action of the Board of Pardons and Parole] wouldn’t be there ... [unless] Mr. Smith will at some time in his lifetime, if he gets a life sentence, will be eligible for some form of parole.

¶93During punishment deliberations, the jury-sent out a note requesting Dr. Fason’s testimony.

¶94II. Plurality Opinion

¶95Appellant makes two important distinctions which the plurality fails to appreciate in its cursory, paragraph-long discussion of his eleventh point of error. Smith v. State, 898 S.W.2d at 853-854 (Tex.Crim.App. Mar. 8, 1995). First, while appellant concedes that when he would likely be paroled is not a proper consideration for the jury when deliberating punishment, he argues that the earliest date upon which he would become eligible for parole was necessary for the jury to give mitigating effect to Dr. Fason’s testimony. In other words, appellant’s instruction does not invite jurors to speculate about when the Board of Pardons and Paroles might release him on parole in violation of Article II, § 1 of the Texas Constitution. Rather, appellant seeks to inform jurors that if he is sentenced to life imprisonment he must serve a fixed, statutory minimal length of that sentence before even becoming eligible for parole.5

¶96The plurality maintains that this contention was raised and rejected in Elliott v. State, 858 S.W.2d 478, 489-90 (Tex.Crim.App. 1989). Smith, at 853. Our opinion in Elliottfails to specify what instruction was requested; this Court merely refers to Elliott’s “requested instruction on the Texas parole laws.” Elliott, 858 S.W.2d at 489. Accordingly, Elliottis not dispositive of the issue at hand.

¶97Second, appellant does not argue that his requested instruction is mitigating evidence in and of itself, rather he argues that the instruction is necessary for the jury to “give effect” to Dr. Fason’s testimony. The plurality’s assertion that “the concept of parole eligibility ‘bears no relationship to the nature of the offense or character of the offender,’ ” Smith, at 853 (quoting Andrade v. State, 700 5.W.2d 585, 590 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (Teag-ue, J., concurring)), is misplaced and illustrates its misunderstanding of appellant’s contention. See also id.,at 853 n. 25. Parole eligibility is certainly not inherently mitigating evidence. However, it makes little sense to allow the jury to hear the testimony of Dr. Fason, which this Court held to be mitigating in Matson v. State, 819 S.W.2d 839 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), without allowing the jury to meaningfully consider and give effect to his testimony.

¶98The trial court’s refusal of appellant’s minimum incarceration period instruction violated appellant’s rights under the Eighth Amendment, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment,6 particularly in light of our decision in Matson, 819 S.W.2d 839, *875established Eighth Amendment death penalty jurisprudence, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Simmons v. South Carolina, — U.S.-, 114 S.Ct. 2187, 129 L.Ed.2d 133 (1994). Due to the likelihood of juror misunderstanding regarding the meaning of “life imprisonment” and “society,” and jurors’ inability to give effect to relevant mitigating evidence of decreased recidivism and propensity for violence over time, the trial court unconstitutionally denied appellant’s minimum incarceration instruction. Further, this conclusion is consistent with the “truth in sentencing” policy of the State of Texas.

¶99Appellant’s requested instruction is not mitigating evidence in and of itself; rather, it is necessary to allow jurors to give effect to appellant’s mitigating evidence of decreasing rates of recidivism and propensity for violence. Accordingly, a defendant may obtain relief in situations where:

1. Defendant has introduced evidence during the punishment phase of decreasing recidivism rates and propensity for violence over time;

2. Defendant has requested and the trial court has denied an instruction informing the jury of the statutory minimum number of years a defendant sentenced to “life imprisonment” would serve before becoming eligible for parole;

3. Defendant has claimed that the trial court’s denial of the instruction violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment.7

¶100III. Eighth Amendment

¶101The United States Supreme Court has held that in capital cases “the fundamental respect for humanity underlying the Eighth Amendment requires consideration of the character and record of the individual offender and the circumstances of the particular offense as a constitutionally indispensable part of the process of inflicting the penalty of death.” Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 304, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 2991, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976). The premise of the WoodsonCourt’s conclusion was that the penalty of death is qualitatively different from other penalties; this difference mandates a greater or heightened degree of reliability when a sentence of death is imposed. Id. at 305, 96 S.Ct. at 2991-92. In Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 604, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments require that the sentencer not be statutorily precluded from considering any aspect of a defendant’s character or record or any of the circumstances of the offense that the defendant may offer as mitigating. The Ohio death penalty statute at issue provided that once defendants were found guilty of murder with at least one of seven specified aggravating circumstances, sentencers were required to impose the death penalty once they determined that the victim did not induce or facilitate the offense, that the defendant did not act under duress or coercion, and that the offense was not primarily the product of the defendant’s mental deficiency. The Court held that the limited range of mitigating circumstances that the sentencer could consider under the Ohio statute was incompatible with the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Id. at 607-08, 98 S.Ct. at 2966-67. The LockettCourt defined as “mitigating” any factor that might serve “as a basis for a sentence less than death.” Id. at 604, 98 S.Ct. at 2965.

¶102Applying the rule in Lockett, the Supreme Court later held that just as a state may not by statute preclude the sentencer from considering any mitigating factor, neither may the sentencer refuse to consider, as a matter of law, any relevant mitigating evidence. Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 113-15, 102 S.Ct. 869, 876-77, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982). Citing Lockettand Eddings, the Supreme Court in Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. *8761, 3-4, 106 S.Ct. 1669, 1670-71, 90 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986), held that the exclusion of evidence of defendant’s good behavior in prison during the seven months he spent in jail awaiting trial deprived him of his right to place before the sentencer relevant evidence in mitigation of punishment.

¶103The Supreme Court has also addressed the Texas capital punishment scheme, most notably in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976), Franklin v. Lynaugh, 487 U.S. 164, 108 S.Ct. 2320, 101 L.Ed.2d 155 (1988), and Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989). In Jurek, 428 U.S. at 262, 96 S.Ct. at 2951-52, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of this Court rejecting an Eighth Amendment challenge to the constitutionality of the Texas death penalty scheme. The Supreme Court held that the Texas scheme withstood constitutional challenge because it authorized the defense to bring before the jury “whatever mitigating circumstances relating to the individual defendant [that] can be adduced....” Id. at 278, 96 S.Ct. at 2959. The JurekCourt emphasized that the jury “must be allowed to consider on the basis of all relevant evidence not only why a death sentence would be imposed, but also why it should not be imposed.” Id. at 271, 96 S.Ct. at 2956.

¶104In Franklin, 487 U.S. at 185, 108 S.Ct. at 2333 (O’Connor, J., concurring), Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion recognized that the right to have the sentencer consider and weigh mitigating evidence would be “meaningless” unless the jury was also permitted to “give effect” to that evidence. Consistent with her concurrence in Franklin, Justice O’Connor’s majority opinion in Pen-ry, 492 U.S. at 318,109 S.Ct. at 2946-47, held that the Texas scheme did not provide the jury with a vehicle to give effect to the mitigating evidence of Penny’s mental retardation and disadvantaged background:

[I]t was clear from Lockettand Eddingsthat a State could not, consistent with the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, prevent the sentencer from considering and giving effect to evidence relevant to the defendant’s background or character or to the circumstances of the offense that mitigates against imposing the death penalty.

¶105Id. at 318, 109 S.Ct. at 2946-47. Thus, not only must a Texas jury be able to consider mitigating evidence, but the jury must be provided with a vehicle to give effect to that evidence.

¶106A. Matson v. State

¶107This Court addressed the issue of mitigating evidence in Matson, 819 S.W.2d at 850-51, in which the defendant challenged the trial court’s refusal to allow the jury to hear expert testimony on the subject of decreasing recidivism and propensity for violence over time which the defendant argued was relevant to whether there was a substantial probability that he would commit criminal acts of violence in the future. Relying on Lockett, Eddings, Jurek, and Skipper, Presiding Judge McCormick’s majority opinion held that the trial court abused its discretion in preventing the jury from hearing this relevant mitigating evidence:

Clearly then, for the Texas death penalty statutes to meet constitutional muster, the sentencing authority in a capital case must be allowed to consider and give effect to all relevant mitigating evidence.

¶108Matson, 819 S.W.2d at 851.

¶109Notably, Matson did not raise and this Court did not address whether a minimum incarceration instruction was required for the jury to give effect to testimony concerning decreasing recidivism and propensity for violence over time; we merely held that preventing the defendant from offering such evidence violated the Eighth Amendment. See also Jackson v. State, 822 S.W.2d 18, 25 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 3034, 125 L.Ed.2d 722 (1993).

¶110B. Simmons v. South Carolina

¶111In Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2190, a plurality of the Supreme Court held that when a defendant’s future dangerousness is at issue and the defendant is ineligi*877ble for parole, due process requires that the jury assessing punishment be told that the defendant is parole ineligible. Justice Souter, joined by Justice Stevens, wrote separately to explain that the Eighth Amendment also compelled the decision of the plurality.8Id.at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2198 (Souter, J., concurring). Concerned that the jury might not understand the meaning of “life imprisonment,” Simmons requested a jury instruction regarding his parole ineligibility. Id.at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2191 n. 2. The plurality held that “[i]n assessing future dangerousness, the actual duration of the defendant’s prison sentence is indisputably relevant.” Id.at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2194 (emphasis added).

¶112At issue in the instant case is the applicability of Simmonsto the Texas capital sen-fencing scheme. Because Texas provides for a statutory “future dangerousness” issue in every capital case, the prosecution will always argue that the defendant will pose a future danger to society if not executed by the State. Unlike South Carolina, in Texas future dangerousness is a threshold issue in securing a death sentence; that is, if the jury does not answer the second special issue in the affirmative, a life sentence will automatically be imposed.

¶113While Simmonsinvolved a defendant who was not eligible for parole, the Supreme Court’s rationale logically extends to defendants in Texas who are statutorily ineligible for parole for a substantial period of time.9 The reasoning of the SimmonsCourt is based in large part on the potential for juror *879misunderstanding and misperception regarding parole eligibility:

To the extent this misunderstanding pervaded the jury’s deliberations, it had the effect of creating a false choice between sentencing petitioner to death and sentencing him to a limited period of incarceration. This grievous misperception was encouraged by the trial court’s refusal to provide the jury with accurate information regarding petitioner’s parole ineligibility....

¶114Id.at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2193.10

¶115The potential for juror misunderstanding and misperception regarding parole and the true meaning of “life imprisonment” is likely in Texas, where jurors must consider “whether there is a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.” Tex.Code Crim.Proe.Ann. art. 87.071 (emphasis added). First, “society” does not have a statutory definition under the Texas scheme, and jurors are given no guidance in this regard. Second, typical jury instructions at punishment may exacerbate juror misunderstanding and actually invite speculation about parole.

¶116While this Court has held on appeal that “society” includes prison society and free society, jurors are not similarly informed. See, e.g., Muniz v. State, 851 S.W.2d 238, 250 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 116, 126 L.Ed.2d 82 (1994); Jones, 843 S.W.2d at 495; Boyd v. State, 811 S.W.2d 105, 118 n. 12 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 971, 112 S.Ct. 448, 116 L.Ed.2d 466 (1991); see also Franklin, 487 U.S. at 179 n. 9,108 S.Ct. at 2330 n. 9 (“[T]he question of a defendant’s likelihood of injuring others in prison is precisely the question posed by the second Texas Special Issue [future dangerousness].”). Defendants are not entitled to a jury instruction defining “society” because of the presumption that all undefined words in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure have a commonly understood meaning that jurors know and apply. See Caldwell v. State, 818 S.W.2d 790, 797-98 (Tex.Crim.App.1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 990, 112 S.Ct. 1684, 118 L.Ed.2d 399 (1992). While we have further held that “society” is not unconstitutionally vague as applied without a definition, e.g., id. at 798-99; Rougeau v. State, 738 S.W.2d 651, 660 (Tex.Crim.App. 1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1029, 108 S.Ct. 1586, 99 L.Ed.2d 901 (1988), overruled on other grounds, Harris v. State, 784 S.W.2d 5 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), we have recognized that many jurors are confused about whether it refers to free society, prison society, or society as a whole. See, e.g., Felder v. State, 758 S.W.2d 760, 764 (Tex.Crim.App.1988).

¶117At the time of appellant’s punishment hearing, typical jury instructions in capital cases, and the instructions used in the instant case provided as follows:

You are instructed that if you return a negative finding on any special issue submitted to you, the court shall sentence the defendant to the institutional division of *880the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life, (emphasis added).

¶118and:

During your deliberations, you are not to consider or discuss any possible action of the Board of Pardons and Paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or of the Governor, or how long the defendant would be required to serve to satisfy a sentence of life imprisonment. (emphasis added).

¶119These instructions indicate that sentencing the defendant to prison “for life” does not actually mean that the defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison, rather he will be released at some point, once he has “sa-tisf[ied] a sentence of life imprisonment.” Jurors are forced to perform the impossible: They must put the “possibility of parole” completely out of their minds when deciding whether a defendant would pose a continuing threat to society, Felder, 758 S.W.2d at 764, without presuming “that a defendant sentenced to life will serve the rest of his life in prison.” Boyd, 811 S.W.2d at 121. How then can the jury decide whether a defendant will pose a continuing threat to society in the future without considering where the defendant will be if not executed? A jury's task is that much more difficult when it is presented with testimony indicating that a defendant’s propensity for violence differs significantly depending on his environment. That is, a defendant’s propensity for violence in a prison setting may be markedly less than his propensity for violence in the free world. Without instructions as to where the defendant will be if given a life sentence or how long he will be incarcerated, a jury’s task may be further complicated by testimony that recidivism rates and propensity for violence tend to decrease with time.

¶120Moreover, instructions telling jurors not to consider the possibility of parole invite speculation about parole. The trial court in Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2197, similarly admonished the jury that “you are instructed not to consider parole” and that parole “is not a proper issue for your consideration.” The Supreme Court recognized that the instruction “was confusing and frustrating to the jury” in suggesting that parole was available, but at the same time instructing the jury to be blind to this fact. Although parole was not available to Simmons, but is available to capital defendants in Texas, jurors are no less confused or frustrated. In Texas, while there is not “a single case which arguably supports [the] theory that a potential juror’s “view is supposed to be that a defendant sentenced to life will serve the rest of his life in prison,’ ” Boyd, 811 S.W.2d at 121, it is presumed that jurors do not consider parole in relation to the special issues.

¶121While we ordinarily presume that jurors follow the court’s instructions, see Rose v. State, 752 S.W.2d 529, 554 (Tex.Crim.App. 1988), “in some circumstances, ‘the risk that the jury will not, or cannot follow instructions is so great, and the consequences of failure so vital to the defendant, that the practical and human limitations of the jury system cannot be ignored.’ ” Simmons, — U.S. at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2197 (citations omitted). The limitations of Texas’ capital sentencing scheme cannot be ignored, particularly in light of a recent study of the substantially similar special issues scheme in Oregon, and numerous studies from other states indicating that, despite instructions to the contrary, jurors invariably consider the possibility that the defendant will be released from prison on parole.11

¶122Without instruction on the applicable parole eligibility law, such speculation is un*881informed and diminishes the reliability of the sentencing process. While the plurality recognizes that Texas provides some procedural protections in an attempt to minimize juror misunderstanding, these protections do not compel us to disregard the risk that the jury ■will not, or cannot follow instructions.

¶123The plurality, in its discussion of appellant’s ninth point of error, notes three procedural protections, Smith, at-, but overstates their efficacy. First, the plurality asserts that the State is not permitted to argue to the jury that a defendant should be sentenced to death because he will be released from prison on parole. Id., at 852. However, such error is not reversible unless the argument is “extreme or manifestly improper, violative of a mandatory statute, or injects new facts, harmful to the accused, into the trial.” Franklin v. State, 693 S.W.2d 420, 429 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (holding closing argument error harmless), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1031, 106 S.Ct. 1238, 89 L.Ed.2d 346 (1986). Second, the plurality states that if a jury considers parole in its deliberations, a defendant may be entitled to a new trial. Smith, at 852. But, the plurality does not acknowledge that in order to obtain relief, a defendant must meet the rigorous standard set out in Sneed v. State, 670 S.W.2d 262, 266 (Tex.Crim.App.1984); see also Buentello v. State, 826 S.W.2d 610, 610-14 (Tex.CrimApp.1992). Third, counsel is permitted to examine prospective jurors about whether they think they are able to follow an instruction forbidding consideration of parole in their deliberations, and counsel may challenge for cause jurors who maintain that they are unable to set aside parole from their consideration. Smith, at 852. Here, the plurality fails to recognize that jurors who think or state that they can obey an instruction may not actually be able to do so. Our discussion in part III.B., swpra, illustrates this point. Additionally, the plurality neglects to note that this Court grants considerable latitude and deference to trial courts regarding jury strikes, thus rendering the decisions of trial courts practically unre-viewable except in extraordinary cases. E.g., Vuong v. State, 830 S.W.2d 929, 943 (Tex. Crim.App.1992) cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 595, 121 L.Ed.2d 533 (1992).

¶124*882The potential damaging effect of juror speculation may be increased by general, though frequently inaccurate, knowledge of parole law. As the plurality in Simmonsnoted:

It can hardly be questioned that most juries lack accurate information about the precise meaning of “life imprisonment” as defined by States.... For much of our country’s history, parole was a mainstay of state and federal regimes, and every term (whether a term of life or a term of years) in practice was understood to be shorter than the stated term_ [I]t is impossible to ignore “the reality known to the ‘reasonable juror,’ that, historically, life-term defendants have been eligible for parole.”

¶125Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2197 (citations omitted). This Court has repeatedly recognized that it is “common knowledge” in Texas that parole is a frequent occurrence. See, e.g., Felder, 758 S.W.2d at 762; Sneed, 670 S.W.2d at 264-66 (“[I]t is common knowledge that from time to time inmates of the Texas Department of Corrections are released on parole_”). Further, the likelihood that jurors have accurate knowledge of the applicable parole law in a given case is decreased significantly due to the Legislature’s frequent amending of Tex.Code Crim. Proc.Ann. art. 42.18 § 8. The parole law for capital defendants in Texas has changed four times in the past ten years, from a minimum of twenty calendar years in 1985, to fifteen years in 1987, to thirty-five years in 1991, to forty years in 1993.12

¶126Withholding parole eligibility information from juries fosters their distorted view of the actual effect of the noncapital sentencing alternative, creating a needless and substantial risk that juries will impose the death penalty in an effort to eliminate what is in reality a nonexistent danger of release on parole within a relatively short period of time. In addition, the need for heightened reliability mandates a recognition of a capital defendant’s right to require instructions on the meaning of the legal terms used to describe the sentencing options. As in Simmons:

whenever there is a reasonable likelihood that a juror will misunderstand a sentencing term, a defendant may demand instruction on its meaning, and a death sentence following the refusal of such a request should be vacated as having been “arbitrarily or capriciously” and “wantonly and ... freakishly imposed.”

¶127Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2198 (Souter, J., concurring) (citations omitted). The Simmonsplurality concluded that the State denied Simmons due process in securing a death sentence based in part on his future dangerousness while concealing from the jury the true meaning of its noncapital sentencing alternative. Id.at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2193. In their concurring opinion, Justices Souter and Stevens observed that the Eighth Amendment’s heightened reliability requirement in capital cases similarly mandates recognition of a capital defendant’s right to require instructions on the meaning of the legal terms used to describe the sentences available. Id.at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2198 (Souter, J., concurring).

¶128C. Matson v. State and Heightened Reliability

¶129Although the plurality in Simmonsdid not reach the Eighth Amendment issue,13 it is incorrect to conclude that the Eighth Amendment sanctions concealing from the jury the true meaning of the noncapital sentencing alternative in Texas, where “future dangerousness” is a threshold jury determination in every case and where the Legislature has provided for mandatory, substantial periods of incarceration without the possibility of parole for capital defendants who are not sentenced to death. An Eighth Amendment analysis of the Texas scheme logically follows from this Court’s decision in Matson, 819 *883S.W.2d 839 (Eighth Amendment basis), and the heightened reliability requirement of Lockett, 438 U.S. at 586, 98 S.Ct. at 2955, and Eddings, 455 U.S. at 104, 102 S.Ct. at 871, as applied to Texas in Jurek, 428 U.S. at 262, 96 S.Ct. at 2951-52, Franklin, 487 U.S. at 164, 108 S.Ct. at 2321-22, and Penry, 492 U.S. at 302, 109 S.Ct. at 2937-38. Additionally, the distinction between the Due Process Clause and the Eighth Amendment is increasingly elusive in death penalty jurisprudence.

¶130This Court has held that the Eighth Amendment requires that capital defendants be allowed to present evidence of the relationship between recidivism and propensity for violence and the length of incarceration and age of the offender. Matson, 819 S.W.2d at 851. However, it is not enough that jurors hear this relevant mitigating evidence. The right to have the sentencer consider and weigh mitigating evidence is “meaningless” unless the jury is permitted to “give effect” to that evidence. See Franklin, 487 U.S. at 185, 108 S.Ct. at 2333 (O’Connor, J., concurring); Penry, 492 U.S. at 318, 109 S.Ct. at 2946-47. In other words, the Mat-son decision is incomplete: Without a jury instruction indicating the minimum time that the defendant will be incarcerated, jurors cannot “give effect” to Matsonevidence {e.g., that a defendant’s propensity for violence is significantly reduced when in a prison environment instead of in the free world, that his propensity for violence will likely decrease over time, or that the likelihood of recidivism decreases with the length of time he is incar-eerated.) Because our holding in Matsonis limited to the proposition that recidivism and propensity for violence evidence is relevant and mitigating, it only reaches part of the way toward full realization of a capital defendant’s rights under the Eighth Amendment.

¶131Moreover, appellant’s minimum incarceration instruction is analyzed under the Eighth Amendment instead of the Due Process Clause used by the plurality in Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2187, because the Eighth Amendment requirement of heightened reliability provides stronger grounding for the proposition that a capital defendant in Texas has a right to require instructions on “the meaning of the legal terms used” where there is a reasonable likelihood of juror misunderstanding and misperception. Id.at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2198 (Souter, J., concurring). While the Simmonsplurality persuasively demonstrated that jurors in general are likely to misunderstand the meaning of “life” imprisonment, id.at -, 114 S.Ct. at 2193, the discussion above demonstrates that in Texas the potential for misunderstanding and misperception is significant. See supra parts III.B. & C.

¶132Due process and Eighth Amendment principles are interconnected in capital jurisprudence.14 It is significant that the constitutional basis for the majority and concurrence in Skippereight years later becomes the basis for the concurrence and plurality, respectively, in Simmons. In Skipper, 476 U.S. at 1,106 S.Ct. at 1669, a majority of the Court decided that the exclusion of evidence *884of a defendant’s good behavior in prison deprived him of his Eighth Amendment right to place before the sentencer relevant evidence in mitigation of punishment. Justice Powell's concurrence reached the same result based on the Due Process Clause. Skipper, 476 U.S. at 9, 106 S.Ct. at 1673-74. While the Simmons’ plurality holding that the defendant was improperly deprived of a jury instruction on parole was based on due process principles, one of the concurrences reached the same result based on Eighth Amendment principles. Id. at 1,114 S.Ct. at 2198 (Souter, J., concurring).

¶133Moreover, the Skipperplurality highlighted the relatedness of the two constitutional provisions:

[Wjhere the prosecution specifically relies on a prediction of future dangerousness in asking for the death penalty, it is not only the rule of Lockett and Eddings that requires that the defendant he afforded an opportunity to introduce evidence on this point; it is also the elemental due process requirement that a defendant not be sentenced to death “on the basis of information which he had no opportunity to deny or explain.”

¶134Skipper, 476 U.S. at 5 n. 1, 106 S.Ct. at 1671 n. 1 (quoting Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349, 352, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 1201-02, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (1977)) (emphasis added). Justice Sealia, in his dissent in Simmons, also underscores the interconnectedness of the Due Process Clause and the Eighth Amendment:

[The plurality] adds to our insistence that State courts admit “all relevant mitigating evidence,” see, e.g., Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S., 104, 102 S.Ct. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1, (1982); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978), a requirement that they adhere to distinctive rules, more demanding than what the Due Process Clause normally requires, for admitting evidence of other sorts — Federal Rules of Death Penalty Evidence, so to speak....

¶135Simmons, — U.S. at-, 114 S.Ct. at 2205 (Sealia, J., dissenting). In light of this Court’s decision in Matsonand the heightened reliability requirement, most recently discussed in Justices Souter’s and Stevens’ concurrence in Simmons, the Eighth Amendment is violated when a capital defendant presents evidence of decreasing rates of recidivism and propensity for violence over time, but is prevented from informing the jury of the true meaning of the noncapital sentencing alternative.

¶136The State points out that this Court has held that parole is not a proper consideration for jury deliberation in the punishment phase of capital murder trials, a holding purportedly grounded in principles of separation of powers. E.g., Jones, 843 S.W.2d at 495. That is, juror speculation about when the Board of Pardon and Paroles might release a convict on parole would encroach upon a manifestly executive function, in violation of Article II, § 1 of the Texas Constitution. However, as Judge Clinton persuasively argues in his dissenting opinion, informing jurors in a capital case that a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment must serve some minimal length of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole does not implicate principles of separation of powers. See Smith, at 845-847 (Clinton, J., dissenting). Indeed, because the Legislature has provided for a minimum period of time which a defendant will serve before becoming parole eligible,15the Board of Pardon and Paroles does not have “jurisdiction” over the defendant until that time has run.

¶137IV. Truth in Sentencing

¶138This conclusion is also consistent with the “truth in sentencing” policy of the State of Texas. In its “Recommendations to the 73rd Legislature,” the Texas Punishment Standards Commission recommended, based on the notion of “truth in sentencing,” that juries be informed of the amount of time offenders will be required to spend in prison. The Commission reasoned:

The public is fed up with illusory long sentences handed down to offenders and *885with the ability of the parole board to circumvent the wishes of judges and juries by setting offenders free long before the scheduled termination of their sentences. The public is entitled to more accurate information about the way our system works, and to a system that is not complicated by elaborate parole and good conduct provisions.... Such a system gives true sentencing authority back to the appropriate and accountable entity, judges and juries, and removes the discretion to decide how long someone will serve from the considerably less accountable parole board. Everyone involved — including the victim, the jury, and the offender — knows exactly how long the offender will serve before the offender is back on the streets. Truth in sentencing is the only way to reestablish the integrity of our criminal justice system in Texas and to restore the public’s faith in that system.

¶139Texas Punishment Standards Commission, Recommendations to the 73rd Legislature 29 (Dec. 16, 1992). The report did not distinguish between noncapital and capital cases regarding the information that sentencers should have. Although the State now opposes informing juries of the parole laws in capital cases, the Texas District and County Attorneys Association’s “Sentencing Policy Statement” outlined a contradictory position:

TDCAA [Texas District and County Attorneys Association] wholeheartedly agrees that the public deserves, and justice demands, truth in sentencing, which should include:

-immediately telling the public the actual lengths of sentences now being served by various offenders;

-modifying current law to tell the public at the time of sentencing whether, when, and under what circumstances felons’ sentences may or will be modified or terminated;

⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅝

-modifying the current law to enable and require courts and prosecutors to tell victims, juries, and the public the truth about the effect on sentence lengths of concurrent sentencing and back-time credits.

¶140Texas District and County Attorneys Association, “Sentencing Policy Statement,” printed in Texas Punishment Standards Commission, Summit Report: A Report of the Proceedings of the Texas Punishment Standard Commission’s Criminal Justice Summit (Aug. 13-15, 1992).

¶141Consistent with the “truth in sentencing” policy, the voters of Texas approved an amendment to Article IV, § 11 of the Texas Constitution in 1989 that authorized the Legislature to enact “laws that require or permit courts to inform juries about the effect of ... eligibility for parole ... on the period of incarceration served by a defendant convicted of a criminal offense.” Acts 1989, 71st Leg., S.J.R. 4, § 1, approved Nov. 7, 1989. The Texas Legislature simultaneously enacted Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 37.07, § 4, which mandates that the court inform the jury in noncapital felony eases of the applicable good conduct time, actual time defendant will serve, and parole eligibility. Acts 1989, 71st Leg, ch. 103, § 1.

¶142“Truth in sentencing” is no less compelling in capital cases than in noncapital cases. Indeed, because the penalty of death is qualitatively different from other penalties, this difference mandates a greater degree of reliability when a sentence of death is imposed. See, e.g., Woodson, 428 U.S. at 304, 96 S.Ct. at 2991; Eddings, 455 U.S. at 113-15, 102 S.Ct. at 876-77; Lockett, 438 U.S. at 604, 98 S.Ct. at 2964-65. Further, the Eighth Amendment prohibits procedures that needlessly undermine the reliability of the capital sentencing process. E.g., Caldwell v. Mississippi 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985); Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980).

¶143V. Conclusion

¶144Appellant correctly and forcibly argues the trial court’s refusal to allow the jury instruc*886tion regarding the statutory minimum incarceration period effectively prevented the jury from giving mitigating weight to the testimony of Dr. Fason at the punishment stage of the trial. While this Court has held that appellant cannot be prevented from presenting this testimony to the jury, Matson, 819 S.W.2d at 850-51, without instruction on the applicable parole eligibility law, appellant’s Eighth Amendment rights cannot be fully realized. The testimony of Dr. Fason indicated that time and appellant’s environment were important factors in predicting future dangerousness. Absent an instruction on the statutory minimum period of time that appellant would be in a prison environment, the jury could not “give effect” to his testimony.

¶145Due to the likelihood of juror misunderstanding regarding the meaning of “life imprisonment” and “society,”16 and jurors’ inability to “give effect” to relevant mitigating evidence of decreased recidivism and violence over time, the trial court unconstitutionally denied appellant’s minimum incarceration period instruction in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Moreover, this conclusion is consistent with the “truth in sentencing” policy of Texas, which is more compelling in the capital sentencing than in the noncapital sentencing context.

¶146While the plurality carefully analyzes appellant’s ninth point of error challenging the trial court’s refusal of his minimum incarceration period instruction under the Due Process Clause, Smith, at 848-858, it cursorily dismisses his related claim under the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 853-854. Because the plurality fails to consider appellant’s eleventh point of error in light of Matsonand established Eighth Amendment death penalty jurisprudence and overrules it, I respectfully dissent.17

¶147OVERSTREET, J., joins.