CAPITOL WATCH

Connecticut Prisons Release 1,000 Prisoners Every Month

     In the wake of the Cheshire tragedy, the criminal justice and prison systems are going to be poked and prodded. A review panel now being assembled by Gov. M. Jodi Rell can get a head start on its work by reviewing research already done by the Office of Legislative Research.

     Want a snapshop of the prison system? Wonder how many prisoners get released every month? Where they come from? How many get out on parole?

     Done.

     In March, OLR issued a report that answers those questions.   

Bonding Negotiations Resume

     House Speaker James A. Amann's absence at a press conference today with Sen. Joseph Lieberman signalled a resumption of negotiations over the state bond package with the administration of Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

     Amann, one of the few Democratic elected officials to back Lieberman after the senator lost the Democratic senate primary last August, would not have missed a Lieberman appearance in the speaker's hometown of Milford unless the talks were substantive.

     Amann and other Democratic legislative leaders met for 90 minutes with Bob Genuario, the governor's budget chief.

     Lieberman was in Milford to announce that the Senate has approved funding for improvements to Eisenhower Park.

     -- Mark Pazniokas

A Defense of Parole -- From Bob Farr in 1999

    Here is an op-ed piece by then-Rep. Robert Farr, R-West Hartford, published June 29, 1999 in The Courant. Farr, who was named early this year by Gov. M. Jodi Rell as chairman of the Board of Pardons and Parole, is likely be the voice of the parole system as it comes under fire in the wake of the Cheshire killings. Two parolees are charged.

While some states are abolishing parole to make a political statement that they are tough on crime, Connecticut is expanding parole to really be tough on crime.

When a defendant is granted parole in Connecticut, he is not actually released until he has a sponsor in the community and has housing and job interviews lined up. He is closely supervised and can be taken into custody by his parole officer for any violation of the conditions of his parole and be required to do the balance of his sentence.

If he does his complete sentence with no parole, however, we give him a ride back to his hometown and don't even get a forwarding address. We only see him when he is arrested for his next offense. Parole is an important tool to protect society from convicted felons by transitioning their reintroduction into society with strict supervision, which reduces the likelihood of reoffending.

In Connecticut, parole is not used as a device to release felons from jail before they do serious time. Connecticut has one of the toughest truth-in-sentencing laws in the country. No one is released on parole unless he has done at least 85 percent of his term if convicted of a violent crime and 50 percent of his term for a nonviolent crime. Actual time now being served exceeds these standards.

Healy Jabs Democrats on Cheshire, Wounds GOP

     Republican State Chairman Chris Healy used the Cheshire tragedy over the weekend to score political points against "liberal Democrats" in his personal political blog, Make Blue Red.

     Healy's posting prompted this sardonic take today on the state's non-partisan political blog, Connecticut Local Politcs: "Whoever had six days in the 'When Will Chris Healy Try to Squeeze Political Advantage Out of a Tragedy' poll wins.

     But Healy actually hits Republicans harder than the Democrats. He just doesn't mention them by name. Healy's piece quickly turns on fellow members of the GOP, since he levels criticism at agencies controlled by Gov. M. Jodi or her appointees, the Department of Correction and Board of Pardons and Parole.

Wayne Pratt mystery

The full details of one aspect of the Rowland scandals may remain a mystery with the death of Wayne Pratt, a colorful antiques dealer who once agreed to purchase a condominium owned by the former governor.

The condominium sale was one of the biggest topics during the Rowland impeachment inquiry in June 2004 as investigators said they had uncovered numerous details about the sale in Washington, D.C. Pratt pleaded guilty in federal court in connection with the sale, saying he agreed to sign the papers when the condo transfer was in fact between Rowland and his close friend, business executive Robert Matthews.

But for reasons that have never been explained publicly, Pratt was never sentenced in connection with his guilty plea. And Matthews has never been charged in the case - more than three years after Pratt's March 2004 plea. And Rowland's guilty plea focused more on free plane rides on a private jet and other favors, rather than the condo sale.

Pratt, 64, died Thursday at his Woodbury home following heart surgery, according to an employee in his well-known antiques business.

----Christopher Keating

Junkets in Quebec City and Boston?

The tab is not calculated yet, but the state is projecting that it will spend exactly $165,660 for two huge conferences that are coming up in August.

The finally tally will not be known until all the bills are submitted for hotels, restaurants, and travel to the summer conferences in Quebec City and Boston, according to D'Ann Mazzocca, executive director of the office of legislative management.

Expect the Capitol to be largely empty starting on Monday, August 6 as 68 legislators and staffers will be in Boston at the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual meeting. When that conference is over, 41 legislators and staff head out to the Council of State Governments' conference at the Hilton Hotel in Quebec City.

Some insiders were stunned that 68 people were headed to Boston, prompting one to say that "this is going to break an all-time record'' for summer conference attendance.

But House Speaker James Amann says these are not junkets, and the legislators and staff will return with a boatload of information on how to tackle problems from taxes to education.

----Christopher Keating

The Politics of A Tragedy

     Gov. M. Jodi Rell today responded to the Cheshire tragedy by ordering "a top-to-bottom assessment of all the procedures and processes involved in charging, sentencing and releasing those convicted of crimes in Connecticut."

    On its face, the governor's order requires a review of a sweeping scope that may be unprecedented -- one that reaches into every corner of the criminal justice system. It was not immediately clear what resources will be provided for the review.

     She is at least the third elected official to issue a press release calling for a review of some aspect of the criminal justice system since two paroled burglars were arrested Monday in connection with the assault of Dr. William Petit Jr. and the gruesome deaths of his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their daughters, Hayley, 17, and 11-year-old Michaela.

     Sen. Sam Caligiuri, R-Waterbury, whose district includes part of Cheshire, was the first, raising questions Tuesday about how the parole system worked in this case. Sen. John A. Kissel, R-Enfield, proposed Wednesday that the state reassess the penalties for burglary.

     Probably reflecting a universal view, Rell said she initially was shocked and disgusted.

     "Now, like others, I am angry," she said in a press release.

     The challenge for her and the General Assembly will be finding a productive outlet for that anger. Under the best of circumstances, crime is an issue rarely given over to dispassionate debate and analysis.

     Nothing about what transpired in Cheshire this week encourages anyone's better nature.

Ann Rosenzweig Schmukler, 1913-2007

     Private services will be held Friday in New York for Ann Rosenzweig Schmukler, the mother of State Comptroller Nancy Wyman of Tolland.

     Mrs. Schmukler, who turned 94 on July 8, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. She died Tuesday in Delray Beach, Fla.

     The family asks that memorial donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, PO Box 4777, Grand Central Station, New York, N.Y.  10163.

     -- Mark Pazniokas

The Inalienable Right of Boaters to Dump Crap

     Gov. M. Jodi Rell was in Norwalk today to celebrate the end of recreational boaters being able to legally dump human waste in Long Island Sound, at least on the Connecticut side.

     To ban these discharges, the state first had to prove to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency boaters had enough places at marinas to pump out their wastes.

     In other words, the legal presumption was that it was OK to dump crap in the Sound until the state could prove it was reasonably convenient to do otherwise.

     Hmmmm.

Now I Remember, That's Mom!

       Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, who is running for mayor of Bridgeport, has filed an amended campaign finance report that identifies the occupation of many donors whose jobs and employers originally were listed as "unknown."

      One of them whose occupation was a mystery to Caruso's treasurer was Tere L. Caruso, the candidate's mother. She is listed as "retired" in the new report.

     The amended version also identifies donors Diana Urban, Bob Megna, Stephen A. Fontana and Christel Truglia as state legislators. The first time around, their occuptions also were "unknown."

     The oversights were embarassing, but Caruso's report still gets across the message he will be sounding against his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bill Finch. His donors, by and large, are city residents who don't make their living off city hall.

     -- Mark Pazniokas