The union representing Connecticut’s Judicial Branch marshals has filed a complaint with the Department of Labor charging that the hiring of state police to patrol outside courthouses violates its contract.
Justice
Stories about the justice system in Connecticut: Law enforcement, courts, prisons and offenders, immigration, juvenile justice, and public corruption.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Orlando victims look to Sandy Hook lawsuit against gun maker
WASHINGTON — Families of those massacred in an Orlando nightclub are weighing whether to follow the Sandy Hook families that have filed a lawsuit against makers of assault rifles like the one Adam Lanza used to kill 20 first graders and six adults.
Posted inJustice
State police don’t mirror CT when it comes to blacks, Hispanics
Nearly 30 years ago Connecticut’s state police signed a legally binding agreement to boost the number of black and Hispanic troopers to 10 percent of the force so it would mirror the proportion of minorities in Connecticut’s population. The state police met that goal decades ago, but there hasn’t been much change since, though minorities now represent about a quarter of the state’s population.
Posted inHealth, Justice
Amid opioid crisis, substance abuse treatment programs cut
On any given day, there are 400 people on the waiting list for the substance abuse treatment and detox programs paid for by the state Judicial Branch. The wait is about to get much longer – and not because of the spike in overdoses throughout the state, but because those programs are being slashed to help close the state’s budget deficit.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Free college courses to be offered to CT inmates
Under a new federal pilot program, hundreds of inmates at seven state prisons throughout Connecticut will soon be offered the chance to earn a college degree or certificate — for free.
Posted inJustice, Money
State troopers to remain outside urban courthouses another week
As most state Judicial Branch layoffs took effect Thursday — including elimination of 101 marshal posts — the branch announced state police troopers would be retained for a second week to patrol outside of courthouses in four major cities.
Posted inJustice, Money
CT court officials say deep budget cuts left them few options
As Connecticut’s Judicial Branch moves ahead this week and next with a major reorganization driven by deep budget cuts, its leaders warn even they aren’t entirely certain what the full impact will be, though they agree with the court marshals union that security is being stretched to a highly questionable degree.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Court: UConn can withhold names of animal researchers, for now
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a trial judge used the wrong legal standard when he ordered the University of Connecticut to give an animal-rights group the names of researchers who had violated animal-research protocols. The university withheld the names to protect the researchers from potential abuse by animal-rights activists.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Senate rejects Murphy background-check provision and ‘terror gap’ bill
Updated at 9:28 p.m.
WASHINGTON — For the second time since the slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the U.S. Senate has rejected an effort to expand FBI background checks of gun purchasers. Lawmakers also killed an effort to bar those on the terrorist watch list from purchasing weapons, as well as two competing GOP proposals.
Posted inJustice, Money
Towns want AG’s opinion on responsibility for unclaimed corpses
Connecticut’s cities and towns are seeking an opinion from Attorney General George Jepsen on whether communities now must take responsibility for disposition of unclaimed human remains.
Posted inJustice, Politics
U.S. Supreme Court declines to consider Sandy Hook gun ban
The U.S. Supreme Court declined without comment Monday to consider a challenge by Connecticut gun owners to gun controls the state passed in response to the shooting deaths of 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook elementary school by a gunman armed with an AR-15, 30-round magazines and high-powered ammo.
Posted inJustice, Money
State troopers will guard courthouses in 4 cities starting Monday
After hiring state police Friday to temporarily enhance security outside of a Superior Court in Bridgeport, the Judicial Branch will assign troopers to guard courthouses in four cities starting Monday, a branch spokeswoman said.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Appeal denied, Rowland faces his second trip to prison
A federal appeals court Friday upheld Gov. John G. Rowland’s conviction and 30-month prison sentence for his role in a scheme to solicit two congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012 to secretly pay him as a political consultant in violation of U.S. campaign finance laws.
Posted inJustice, Politics
SEEC OKs record $325,000 settlement in Malloy campaign case
The Connecticut Democratic Party and the State Elections Enforcement Commission agreed Monday to settle a case that threatened to undermine campaign finance reforms inspired by the scandal that forced Gov. John G. Rowland from office in 2004. The party will pay a record $325,000 over 27 months to settle allegations of impropriety involving use of state contractor contributions in 2014 to support the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inJustice, Money
Judicial Branch to close Windham courthouse, 3 juvenile courts
The Judicial Branch announced Tuesday it would close the Windham courthouse, juvenile courts in Danbury, Stamford and Torrington, and two urban lock-up facilities as part of a larger reorganization to deal with a $77 million budget cut in the fiscal year beginning July 1.