Senate Leadership
April 24, 2008
Democratic Senate Passes Tougher Persistent Offender Bill, Allocates $10 Million For Criminal Justice
Doubling and tripling of minimum and maximum felony sentences; more money for prosecutors, state police, GPS tracking, alternative housing
The Democrat-led state Senate early this morning overwhelmingly approved a much tougher version of Connecticut's existing persistent dangerous felony offender law, doubling and tripling jail sentences for the most violent criminals and giving criminal justice professionals $10 million in new funding for the prosecutors, GPS tracking, state police, parolee supervision, warrant service, parole officers, alternative housing and other tools that they have requested.
The amendment to Senate Bill 671 was passed around 2 a.m. today on a 32-3 bipartisan vote in the Senate. The bill now heads to House of Representatives for consideration.
For criminals who are found to be "persistent dangerous felony offenders," the bill doubles the minimum and maximum penalties (up to 40 years in prison) that they face upon a second serious felony conviction, and triples the minimum and maximum penalties (up to life in prison) for a third serious felony conviction.
"This is a huge day for public safety and for the rule of law in Connecticut," Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) said. "We're not waiting for a third strike to get tough on crime. By doubling and then tripling sentences for violent, repeat offenders, we're helping to improve public safety. At the same time, we allow for judicial discretion, which is a key element in our criminal justice system. Add to that the $10 million that we are dedicating for prosecutors and state police to build strong cases, more GPS tracking and parole officers, and more treatment beds and re-entry programs, and the people of Connecticut can see that we are committed to real and meaningful public safety changes and are not simply resorting to bumper-sticker slogans."
"The changes to our persistent dangerous felony offender statutes that we passed early this morning are a true watershed in Connecticut judicial philosophy," Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) said. "The doubling and tripling of penalties up to life for a whole host of serious offenses sends a very clear message to those criminals who would prey on our state's citizens: there are really no second chances. Also, we've given law enforcement officials the tools they need to bring those charges to trial and make them stick. The effect of that cannot be underestimated. The impact going forward is going to have a tremendous and tangible influence on convicting and incarcerating the worst of the worst persistent dangerous felony offenders in Connecticut."
"These are extraordinary changes in our criminal justice public policy," said state Sen. Andrew J. McDonald (D-Stamford), the co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee who brought the amendment out for debate on the Senate floor. "Judges and prosecutors need the ability to address criminal conduct on a case-by-case basis, but also want the tools necessary to punish severely repeat, violent offender. Today, we provided them with those tools and the financial resources they requested."
"We cannot prevent all tragedies from happening in our state," Sen. McDonald added. "But what we can do is ensure that the people on the front lines--our prosecutors and judges, state police and parole officers--have the public policies and the resources necessary to get the job done."
"Dangerous felony" crimes generally include murder, manslaughter, arson, kidnapping, 1st- and 2nd-degree robbery, 1st- and 3rd-degree sexual assault, 1st-degree assault, home invasion, 1st-degree burglary, 2nd-degree burglary with a firearm, or any attempt to commit those crimes. The range of jail sentences for the most serious of these crimes generally ranges from 10 years to life; it is those ranges which will be doubled and tripled under the proposed new law.
The bill requires that prosecutors who do not seek persistent dangerous felony offender status for those who qualify must state on the record why they are not seeking that option.
The bill also provides $9,996,000 over the next year for a variety of law enforcement tools, including:
- $681,000 to the Division of Criminal Justice for enhancing the prosecution of repeat offenders and administrative coordination and information technology capacity.
- $512,000 to the Public Defender Services Commission for enhancing the legal defense of indigent defendants and handling increased prosecutions.
- $5,232,000 to the Judicial Department from the General Fund for enhancing court operations and probation supervision of sexual offenders, including the use of global positioning system and polygraph technologies, and for increasing the capacity to serve outstanding warrants for violations of probation, providing truancy prevention and establishing a juvenile justice urban cities pilot program.
- $514,000 to the Department of Public Safety for hiring additional staff within the State Police Major Crime Squad.
- $2,147,000 to the Department of Correction for funding alternative housing, additional correction and parole officers, expansion of the use of global positioning system devices in the supervision of parolees, and additional staff for the Board of Pardons and Paroles to screen parole candidates and process files.
- $910,000 to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for enhancing coordination and monitoring of community services for individuals served by the alternative supervision and intervention support teams, providing supportive housing for individuals served in the jail diversion or reentry programs, enhancing the women's jail diversion program, and hiring an additional clinician to expand the capacity of the alternative drug intervention program.
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Senator Williams’ Derek Slap |
Listing of Leadership’s recent press releases. |
Senator Looney’s Derek Slap |
