I’ve spent more time in my committee’s conference room this week than I have in our public hearing room.

One meeting was about a bill that would have created a new right to sue in family law.

The question arose whether people could afford the cost of bringing such a lawsuit.

I said that we already have too many instances where people can’t secure their rights because they can’t afford a lawyer.

I could not support creating another example of unequal justice.

The bill’s sponsor responded that we shouldn’t deny this right to those who could afford it.

Under the compromise we reached, the merits of this new legal right will be considered by the judiciary this summer.

Consequently, the debate over a right to counsel was postponed as well.

The other issue discussed in the conference room was medical marijuana.

No details I can share yet, as there has yet to be any white smoke, the sign of consensus when a Pope is chosen.