With the legislature’s Judiciary Committee having debated, voted on and advanced numerous bills, lawmakers are one step closer to deciding what gets sent to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk for his signature.

After being vetted for their constitutionality and consistency with current law, the bills will travel to the House or Senate — whichever chamber they originated in — for further action. Not every bill passed out of committee will see the light of day before the legislature concludes in June. But they indicate at least some of what lawmakers want to address.

So far this year, that has included bail reform, prosecutorial accountability, resources for formerly incarcerated people and routine strip searches in prisons.

Here are some of the key justice-related bills to watch for:

Bail reform

Widely considered a major development among criminal justice experts, House Joint Resolution 261 seeks to amend the state Constitution to allow courts to deny bail to people they consider a risk to safety. Under the current Constitution, courts can deny bail to someone convicted of a capital offense. But because the state repealed the death penalty in 2012, virtually anyone is entitled to bail.

The proposal has received bipartisan support but has been opposed by prosecutors, public defenders and the bail industry, who feel there hasn’t been enough discussion among stakeholders about any drastic change to the current system.

Constitutional amendments must first pass through the House and Senate with three-fourths majority support or a simple majority in both chambers in two successive legislative terms. After passing through the legislature, constitutional amendments then have to garner majority support among voters.

Cannabis cases

House Bill 6787 would end the prosecution of any ongoing marijuana-related cases if the activity being prosecuted is now decriminalized. It would also require sentencing courts to order a hearing if a person was incarcerated prior to, on or after cannabis legalization in 2021. If “good cause” was shown during that hearing, the court would have to reduce the person’s sentence or release the person, whether fully or under supervision.

The Judiciary Committee’s passage of the bill comes after the chief state’s attorney, Patrick Griffin, told lawmakers in a public hearing last month that his office was still pursuing criminal action against people previously charged for possession of marijuana. Rep. Steven Stafstrom, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, said he would strike the part of the bill regarding cannabis prosecutions as long as the pending cases are fully cleared in the coming weeks.

Clean slate

House Bill 6918 would make technical and clarifying changes to Connecticut’s delayed “clean slate” initiative, which automatically erases the criminal records of people seven years after the date of a conviction for a misdemeanor or 10 years after the date of a conviction for certain class D, class E or unclassified felonies if they have not been convicted of other crimes.

The proposed bill maximizes the number of formerly incarcerated people who would qualify for clean slate by adding certain motor vehicle violations to the list of eligible offenses. It would limit clean slate to people who have completed their incarceration, have completed their probation and are not facing pending criminal charges. It would also require the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to post on its website the list of offenses eligible for erasure.

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