Judiciary Committee debates racial- and gender‑balance law during two Pardons and Paroles nominations; roll calls held open

The Judiciary Committee on April 25 took up two nominations to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and spent considerable time debating a statutory requirement that the governor's appointments reflect the state's racial and gender demographics.

Committee Chairman Senator Winfield introduced the nominations and opened the floor for discussion before the committee held roll-call votes on both candidates. Representative Fishbein raised the statutory issue at length, citing the state constitution's allocation of pardon powers ("Article Fourth, Section 10") and a statutory provision he identified as "4-9(b)" that, he said, requires the governor's appointments to "closely reflect the gender and racial diversity of the state according to the most recent United States census population data." Fishbein said the statute was inserted after the 2008 Cheshire home…