Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform – New Hampshire

LEGISLATIVE ALERT
Please come to a public hearing next Tuesday for SB 373, a bill written by CCJR that forces the Department of Corrections to get its administrative rules approved by a 10-member committee of senators and representatives. The bill testimony starts at 11 a.m. in Room 306 of the Legislative Office Building. That’s across the street from the building with the golden dome.

SB 373 sailed through the Senate on the consent calendar last month with crucial support from Helen Hanks, the new commissioner of corrections. She even launched the formal rulemaking process Mar. 16 on the first 120 pages of Corrections rulemaking before the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. We'll keep you posted on hearings this year on another 40 pages of corrections rules that mostly deal with the controversial sex offender treatment program.

We await future public hearings on rules governing probation and parole supervision in the community, the sex offender treatment program outside the walls, the placement of women in the men’s prison, and the use of tiny cages for dangerous prisoners during group counseling.

Unfortunately, the House committee reviewing SB 373 retained a similar bill for further study last year, HB 192. That was a polite way of killing a good bill we also wrote. It's safe to assume we need a strong turnout for SB 373. We’ll be calling folks to help hold Corrections accountable for all of its rules. A copy of the bill is below.

Please send an email with any questions and to let us know that you plan on coming.  Thank you.  Chris Dornin, co-founder, Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform, cldornin@aol.com

You can read the bill here: https://legiscan.com/NH/text/SB373/2018