Committee tables bill to abolish the death penalty

HELENA - Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 today to table a bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Montana.

Senate Bill 236, sponsored by Sen. David Wanzenried, D-Missoula, would replace the death penalty with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The bill received considerable attention so far this session, with emotional and lengthy hearings.

The committee vote was mostly party-line, with all nine Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Arlene Becker of Billings, voting to block the measure from advancing to a vote of the full 100-member House.

Supporters of SB 236 said the death penalty is expensive, out-dated, unfairly used and goes against the right to life. Opponents maintained that some crimes are worthy of death, and capital punishment is useful to prosecutors as a bargaining chip to win guilty pleas to lesser charges.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy

Medical marijuana bill faces crucial vote Tuesday

By SHANDA BRADSHAW

Community News Service

UM School of Journalism

The Montana Senate voted 25-24 Saturday to increase the amount of medical marijuana a patient can legally possess and expand the list of debilitating conditions that marijuana could be prescribled to treat.

Senate Bill 326, sponsored by Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula (pictured), is scheduled to face a final Senate vote Tuesday.

"There are a great many people out there in pain, and medical marijuana would definitely help them," Erickson said Saturday.

The bill would amend current law to include illnesses such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and post-traumatic stress disorder on the list of illnesses for which medical marijuana could be prescribed.

Erickson said that change is one of the bill's two main goals.

"Number one is to increase access and supply for those people with prescriptions," Erickson said. "Number two is to expand the law to include new diseases and help the people that need it."

Erickson said the bill's opponents were most apprehensive about a section in the bill that aims to protect patients or caregivers that legally possesses medical marijuana from losing their job or being evicted from a rental home solely because of their marijuana possession.

"I told opponents at the hearing that I'm willing to amend this section of the bill when it gets to the House ," Erickson said. "So I think this is no longer a concern, and I expect the bill to pass."

SB 326 would also allow patients to get marijuana from more than one licensed caregiver, which could help patients find the supplies they need.

In addition to increasing the amount a patient can legally possess, the bill would also allow licensed growers to have six mature, budding plants and eight immature plants.

Bill to abolish Montana's death penalty advances

HELENA - Legislation to abolish Montana's death penalty inched forward Friday, heading toward a debate of the full Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 to recommend passage of Senate Bill 236, sponsored by Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula. The bill would replace the death sentence with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.