Edwin Glass went to prison with the expectation he would serve 51 months of a 60-month sentence, the 85-percent standard for a violent crime. He ended up doing 56 months, or 93 percent. Does that make Connecticut tough or lenient?
Justice
Stories about the justice system in Connecticut: Law enforcement, courts, prisons and offenders, immigration, juvenile justice, and public corruption.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Murphy, stumping in Ohio for Clinton, Strickland, presses gun control
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy is testing the political effectiveness of his push for stricter gun laws in Ohio, a battleground for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and a state that could help decide control of the Senate. In an odd pairing, Murphy is trying to help elect Ted Strickland, a Democrat who was once one of the fiercest defenders of Second Amendment rights on Capitol Hill.
Posted inJustice
Violent crime in Connecticut down, murder rate up
Compared to the rest of the country, Connecticut had the second-largest decrease in violent crime between 2014 and 2015 — about a million incidents or 8.5 percent. The state experienced overall its lowest of number of crimes since 1967 and was one of just nine that saw a drop in violent crime over the year.
Posted inEducation, Justice
State Supreme Court says it will review school funding case
The state Supreme Court will hear an expedited appeal of a lower court’s conclusion that the way the state distributes education aid and oversees local schools is unconstitutional.
Posted inEducation, Justice
CCJEF attorneys ask high court to reject AG appeal, for now
The coalition of education reformers who won a suit striking down Connecticut’s school funding formula as unconstitutional on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to deny the attorney general’s request for an expedited appeal of the case.
Posted inJustice
Wade to withdraw from Connecticut’s Anthem-Cigna review
A lawyer for Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade told state ethics officials Thursday that the commissioner will recuse herself from any role in approving the acquisition of Cigna by Anthem, a deal now jeopardized by a federal antitrust lawsuit.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Jepsen files appeal, says Moukawsher school ruling ‘legally unsupported’
Attorney General George Jepsen’s office filed an appeal Thursday asking the Connecticut Supreme Court to conclude that a trial judge embarked on “an uncharted and legally unsupported path” last week in asserting authority over how the state distributes education aid and sets standards for graduating from high school, serving special-needs students and evaluating teachers.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Malloy, a plaintiff and then a defendant, hedges on school appeal
NEW HAVEN — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Tuesday he agreed with the “core” of Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher’s finding last week that Connecticut’s distribution of education aid was so irrational as to be unconstitutional, but the ruling raises so many legal and practical complexities that he will defer a decision on an appeal to Attorney General George Jepsen.
Posted inJustice
For David Rosen, 11 years in court just a beginning in school case
“This is a case I feel so privileged to be involved with,” said crusading New Haven attorney David Rosen. “Let’s hope that this case has a very big impact and helps lots of children for years to come.”
Posted inJustice
Malloy: Reforms help shrink prison population to a 20-year low
Connecticut’s prison population briefly fell below 15,000 inmates this month for the first time in nearly 20 years, a drop Gov. Dannel P. Malloy attributes to the bipartisan passage last year of lowering penalties for drug possession, a reform aimed at reducing incarceration without compromising public safety.
Posted inEducation, Justice, Politics
Judge strikes down state education aid choices as ‘irrational’
In a broad indictment of how Connecticut supports its poorest schools, Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled Wednesday that the state’s method for distributing education aid is irrational and unconstitutional, while declining to second-guess the General Assembly on the ultimate level of state spending.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Bridgeport shootings bring Malloy to Ganim’s side
BRIDGEPORT — The body language seemed strained while photographers were briefly allowed in a room crowded with local, state and federal law enforcement called to talk to about street shootings. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sat next to Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, never quite making eye contact with the mayor whose election he once opposed as an embarrassment to Connecticut.
Posted inJustice, Politics
CT Supreme Court rules in FOI case involving Ritter, CRRA
A unanimous ruling Monday by the Connecticut Supreme Court in a case involving a prominent lawyer-lobbyist, former House Speaker Thomas D. Ritter, seems to narrow the circumstances when a lawyer’s business or political advice is protected by lawyer-client privilege.
Posted inJustice
CT high court rules UConn wrongly fired employee for getting high at work
The state’s high court has unanimously decided the University of Connecticut was not justified in firing an employee found getting high on marijuana while on the job, a case the attorneys for the state argued would have broad implications for state employees.
Posted inEducation, Justice
DCF offers few details on closing controversial jail for juveniles
The report may be titled “Plan for the Closure of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School,” but the state’s child welfare agency provides few details on how the controversial jail for young offenders will be shut down, and even allows for the possibility that it never does.