Criminal justice reform will not be easy

Woe be unto a state whose governor-elect issues wishy-washy statements about criminal-justice reform.

When Ned Lamont says, “For me, criminal justice reform is so important. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the smart thing to do,” what does he mean? He wants to continue Malloy’s policy of giving people a “Second Chance” with capital letters. Where have I heard that before?

He has “policy teams” doing “incredibly hard work.” Among the policy items these teams consider “incredibly hard work” are the contradictory aims of banning discrimination against criminals, and maintaining a sex-offender registry.

I’m also assuming he will maintain Connecticut’s police, whose job is to discriminate against criminals. It is safe to assume he won’t go along with all of their recommendations. Attempting to end mass-incarceration, should he try, will not be easy. He’ll have to fire a lot of police. He won’t.

Allen Bowin lives in Windsor.