Committee: Law and Justice Interim Committee
Author: Rachel Weiss
Posted on May 14, 2018
The Law and Justice Interim Committee (LJIC) will meet at 8 a.m. on May 21 in Room 102 of the Capitol in Helena.
The LJIC will devote most of the morning to its SJ 25 study of solitary confinement. After learning about other states’ efforts to limit or reduce the use of solitary confinement in state prisons, the committee will hear suggestions from sheriffs and others about reducing the use of administrative segregation in county detention centers. The LJIC will also take comments from the public about the study during the morning session.
In the afternoon, the LJIC will hear from stakeholders about victims’ statutory rights in Montana, including what is working and what might need improvement. The topic was raised by stakeholders and committee members as of interest after the Montana Supreme Court voided the constitutional initiative known as Marsy’s Law last fall. Another topic of committee interest that will be handled in the afternoon is the SJ 3 study of increasing access to tribal resources for tribal members in the state criminal justice system that the State-Tribal Relations Committee is conducting.
In addition to the solitary confinement study and the topics of member interest, the LJIC will also hear from several agencies it oversees. Staff from the Department of Corrections, the Department of Justice, and the Office of State Public Defender, as well as members of the Board of Pardons and Parole will provide agency updates to the LJIC during the Monday meeting.
The meeting will be streamed live at www.leg.mt.gov and will be broadcast on Television Montana (TVMT). Please check your local channel listings to find TVMT in your area.
For more information about the meeting, including a full agenda and meeting materials, visit the committee’s website or contact committee staff.
Committee website: www.leg.mt.gov/ljic
Committee staff: Rachel Weiss, 406-444-5367 or rweiss@mt.gov
