a public defender

It’s that time of year – when the legislature’s committees are done discussing, when one party has successfully blocked discussion and vote on other bills and the few stragglers that made it through leave behind a myriad of bills that died on the floor. Some of these bills are truly dead, some have a whisper of a chance – either for this year as add-ons to bills that made it through, or next year, because they’re persistent little sobs.

So, in honor of Good Friday (no, not really, don’t get mad at me and leave a 1000 comments), here are three Good Bills that died this year in committee, and two “it’s Good these Bills died in committee”:

These Good Bills Died:

• Videotaping of custodial interrogations
• An Act Concerning Eyewitness Identifications
• An Act Concerning the Rescission of Probation

It’s Good These Bills Died:

• An Act Implementing The Adam Walsh Act
• An Act Concerning the gutting of habeas corpus reform

Of course, a straight-up abolition bill was proposed but there was no public hearing. I’ll have a post on the good bills that passed and the bills that shouldn’t have passed coming up soon.