The House Judiciary Committee this legislative session blocked bills that cleared the Senate exempting convicted capital murderers younger than 18 from the death penalty and requiring parental permission before juvenile defendants waive their right to counsel. Also rejected by the committee were bills to establish penalties for hate crimes and caps on nursing home lawsuit damages. A bill to prohibit the death penalty for capital murderers younger than 17 cleared the panel at the urging of Gov. Mike Huckabee but was defeated in the House the next day. Either action has the same effect as voting nay since bills pass only if they get the required number of favorable votes.
Theories abound about the committee's inclination.
Proponents of some of the rejected bills say the committee's members are more conservative and amenable to prosecutors' arguments than members have been in the past. They also say it's harder to make a case for defendants' rights before a committee containing half as many lawyers as it did in the previous session. The committee has 20 members. Only 4 are lawyers, compared with 9 in the 1999 session and 11 in 1995 and 1997. The committee had 7 lawyers in 1991 and 1993.