Senator Earle McCormick to Represent Maine Senate on National Committee on Law and Criminal Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 27, 2007

AUGUSTA – Senator Earle McCormick (R-West Gardiner) could play a major role in developing proposals and policies that would improve legislation surrounding a state’s legal and criminal justice system.

Sen. McCormick, a first term State Senator, has been appointed to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Standing Committee on Law and Criminal Justice. His membership on the committee, which is one of NCSL’s 11 standing committees, would extend through 2008, unless he is reappointed at that time.

NCSL, based in Washington, D.C., is a bipartisan organization that brings leaders from all over the United States together to explore and develop sound policy proposals to improve the governing of a state, as well as the relationships between state and federal government. Each of NCSL’s 11 standing committees are composed of state legislators from across the country who are asked to bring their chamber’s perspective to the discussions surrounding the issues of their particular committee. In the past, members of these committees have testified at hearings before the US Congress and have met with federal agency officials.

As a member of the Law and Criminal Justice Committee, Sen. McCormick will join leaders from across the country in exploring a wide range of topics. Issues that his committee will examine include: campaign finance, civil rights, domestic violence, drug crime, and gambling. Other topics will concern initiatives and referendums, juvenile justice, Native American affairs and the Voting Rights Act. His committee will meet three times over the course of the year; in Washington, D.C., Boston, Massachusetts, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Sen. McCormick was very excited about his appointment to NCSL’s Law and Criminal Justice Committee. “I’m glad to have been offered the opportunity to work with legislators from different states to delve into these very important issues,” he said. “A state’s legal and criminal justice system is vital to the stability of a state’s communities, and I am very interested in discussing and proposing ways to improve that system.”

Sen. McCormick represents District 21, which includes Chelsea, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, Pittston, Randolph, West Gardiner and Winthrop. He can be reached in Augusta at 287-1505, in West Gardiner at 724-3228, or by e-mail at mccormick@prexar.com.

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