The legislature's judiciary committee will undergo drastic changes next year as both longtime co-chairmen are taking jobs in the new Malloy administration.
Rep. Michael P. Lawlor and State Sen. Andrew McDonald - the leaders in the thick of the battle on controversial issues like same-sex civil unions, gay marriage, and the death penalty - will both step down from their legislative seats to work for Democrat Dannel Malloy.
Lawlor is taking a job in the governor's budget office, while McDonald will be Malloy's chief legal counsel.
Lawlor is the longest-serving co-chairman of the judiciary committee, even surpassing "King Richard'' Tulisano - the outspoken orator who ruled the committee with an iron fist in his heyday. Lawlor was one of the chief proponents of changing the statute of limitations in civil sexual abuse cases, which is directly related to the high-profile charges against the late Dr. George Reardon, who treated patients at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford before his death more than a decade ago.