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The Judiciary Committee announced yesterday that it would hold a public hearing on submitted proposals to reform the criminal justice system. The hearing is currently to be held on November 27 at 1pm.

From the press release:

One of the fifteen proposals that will be heard at the hearing has been submitted by Sen. McDonald and Rep. Lawlor.  Some of the major points of reform included in the chairmen’s proposal are: establishing a new crime of “home invasion” and designating it as a violent offense; re-writing and strengthening the state’s “three-strikes” laws; providing more resources to the state’s criminal justice agencies including corrections, the parole board, probation, victim services, and prosecutors; and requiring the development of a new state-of-the-art communications system that will allow all criminal justice agencies to easily, rapidly, and securely exchange information electronically.

The chairmen expect that full drafting of the fifteen proposals, fiscal estimates and summaries will be completed by the non-partisan legislative staff by the end of next week.  Upon their completion, all of the proposals will be made available online.  Members of the public will be able to testify at the committee’s hearing.

Oh boy. This is going to be interesting. Once the proposals are up, I’ll link to them.

Full text of the release after the jump, if you’re interested.

State Senator Andrew J. McDonald (D-Stamford) and State Representative Mike Lawlor (D-East Haven), the chairmen of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, today announced that the committee will hold a public hearing, pursuant to Joint Rule 34, on fifteen separate proposals regarding criminal justice reforms on Tuesday, November 27, at 1 PM at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

At a hearing on the topic last month, the committee’s chairmen invited legislators, state agencies and others to submit proposals.  A total of fifteen proposals were submitted by several legislators, the Office of the Victim Advocate, state prosecutors, and the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

One of the fifteen proposals that will be heard at the hearing has been submitted by Sen. McDonald and Rep. Lawlor.  Some of the major points of reform included in the chairmen’s proposal are: establishing a new crime of “home invasion” and designating it as a violent offense; re-writing and strengthening the state’s “three-strikes” laws; providing more resources to the state’s criminal justice agencies including corrections, the parole board, probation, victim services, and prosecutors; and requiring the development of a new state-of-the-art communications system that will allow all criminal justice agencies to easily, rapidly, and securely exchange information electronically.

The chairmen expect that full drafting of the fifteen proposals, fiscal estimates and summaries will be completed by the non-partisan legislative staff by the end of next week.  Upon their completion, all of the proposals will be made available online.  Members of the public will be able to testify at the committee’s hearing.

“It is our intention to move through this process as rapidly as our joint rules permit,” Sen. McDonald said.  “Therefore, we are convening the public hearing to expedite the process and still achieve the best public policy outcome possible.”

“Our goal is to make sure that we have a comprehensive package of reforms ready for action,” Rep. Lawlor said.

In addition, Rep. Lawlor has accepted an invitation to give a presentation in front of Governor Rell’s Sentencing & Parole Task Force on Thursday, October 25 at 1 PM.  It is anticipated that he will discuss some of the proposals received by the committee, among other related subjects.  The governor’s task force is currently in the process of examining topics similar to those that the Judiciary Committee is reviewing, with the goal of releasing recommendations to the governor at the start of the new year.