In a day-long session Monday, Connecticut’s Joint Judiciary Committee, comprised of members of the state House and state Senate, weighed 12 bills, mostly related to criminal justice reform.
Last year, the state saw a drop in overall violent crime statistics but a massive increase in robberies, shootings, and car jackings, leading to the flurry of bills that are currently on the legislative docket.
Particularly, Connecticut’s legislators are concerned with the uptick in violence crimes among juveniles – specifically car jackings and shootings.
One of those bills is SB 16, which addresses gun violence and juvenile crimes.
The bill would make serious crimes among juveniles punishable by prison sentences in adult facilities. The pertinent section of the bill says:
No child shall be released from a juvenile residential center who is alleged to have committed a serious juvenile offense except by order of a judge of the Superior Court. The court may, in its discretion, consider as an alternative to detention a suspended detention order with graduated sanctions to be imposed based on the detention risk screening for such child … Any child confined in a community correctional center or lockup shall be held in an area separate and apart from any adult detainee …
The bill does prohibit juveniles from being held in solitary confinement.
SB 365 was also considered.
That bill would specifically increase punishment for serious juvenile offenses and allow for certain pretrial detainment and tracking normally reserved for adults.
It provides for “articulation of reasons when a judge declines to detain a child, increase flexibility when determining whether to detain a child, increas[ing] the sharing of information concerning juvenile cases by law enforcement agencies, allow[ing] for global positioning monitoring of juveniles under certain circumstances [and] allow[ing] for automatic transfer to regular criminal docket for 14-year olds if charged with certain violent crimes.”
SB 365’s sister bill, HB 5417, was also discussed. That bill addresses the following:
To (1) provide for (A) more immediate arraignment and services for juvenile offenders, (B) electronic monitoring in certain circumstances, (C) expansion of provisions imposing upon a child special juvenile probation in the case of murder or first degree manslaughter, and (D) expansion of programs serving juveniles and reducing crime…
Two other bills that were brought for public comment addressed the rights of Connecticut’s residents to defend themselves from attackers.
SB 388 is a bill that would create the presumption that it is reasonable to use deadly force against an attacker inside one’s home or car.
Connecticut currently enforces “Duty to Retreat” laws, meaning that the victim of an attacker must take reasonable steps to get away from the attacker before using deadly force.
The “Duty to Retreat” law is specifically being challenged by HB 5412, but only in religious places of worship.
Read the full list of bills addressed Monday here.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Connecticut Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Connecticut State Capitol” by jglazer75 CC BY 2.0.
