Following Courthouse Escalation from ICE, Senate Democrats Ask CT Chief Justice for Increased Protections

HARTFORD – In the midst of videos and reports this month showing ICE agents storming Connecticut courthouses to make arrests, ignoring standard conventions and escalating their behavior, Connecticut Senate Democrats this week addressed a letter to Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Raheem Mullins asking for increased protections for members of the public against undue detainment.

The Senators refer to a Connecticut District Court order filed August 4 banning law enforcement from arresting or detaining any person within the federal courthouse in Hartford, where judicial proceedings are occurring, among other potential points of response.

The letter comes specifically after reports of three unmarked and unidentified ICE agents with covered faces stormed into the Stamford courthouse on August 11, ignoring the orders of a state marshal asking them for a warrant and arresting two men in a courthouse bathroom, using pepper spray on them in the process.

Eyewitness reports indicate that ICE agents used similar behavior in a Danbury courthouse on August 14, threatening to use pepper spray and Tasers on individuals, asking them if they had warrants, according to the New Haven Register.

“This is an extreme escalation by ICE,” the Senators wrote, adding it’s the first time they’re aware of ICE agents arresting someone inside a courthouse in Connecticut. Before the second Trump administration, ICE arrests routinely took place outside courthouses.

“Courthouses are a cornerstone of our democracy,” the Senators wrote. “Our Constitution guarantees all people, regardless of immigration status, the right to an attorney and a court hearing when charged with a crime.” They noted courthouses are also safe havens and needed resources for victims seeking protective orders, spouses seeking divorces, and other members of the public seeking relief.

The noted escalation of behavior by ICE agents, the Senators say, means “courthouses are being used as mouse traps,” with a chilling effect of making immigrants – including ones in the country legally – avoid public spaces in fear of arrest or detainment. This harms public safety, they said.

“For example, if the only witness to a crime is an undocumented immigrant, the witness may refuse to testify or even to assist local police,” the Senators wrote, leaving the victim of the crime without justice.”

While the Trust Act in Connecticut does not prevent ICE agents from entering courthouses, nor does it allow judicial marshals to prevent or assist ICE in apprehending individuals, the Senators drew attention to the Connecticut District Court order, as well as similar orders in New York and Oregon, prohibiting arrest without judicial warrant in or near state courthouses. They asked Chief Justice Mullins if, with similar authority to make such an order, if he would.

The Senators further noted further ways to curtail unlawful ICE arrests in courthouses, including changing docket publication to limit ICE access to lists of names used to identify potential detainees, offering witnesses and litigants the ability to participate in court electronically, or requiring federal agents to register with security before entering a courthouse, including giving name, agency and badge number.

The full letter can be found here and is reprinted below:

Senators Looney & Duff Applaud West Coast Health Alliance, Call for Northeastern States to Follow Suit

Today, Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) applauded the announcement of the West Coast Health Alliance. The Alliance is a collaborative effort between the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington to provide region-specific health and vaccination recommendations to residents.

This announcement follows growing accusations of politicization at federal health institutions, including the Centers for Disease Control. Critics have pointed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who operated an anti-vaccine organization for profit for several years before being named to lead major American health institutions. Kennedy recently fired CDC Director Susan Moranez, who said she was ousted for disagreeing with his changes to vaccine recommendations. Several other department leaders resigned in response, and more than a thousand current and former staffers have protested his leadership in recent weeks.

Kennedy replaced Moranez with Jim O’Neill, a former presidential speechwriter who has no experience in medicine or science.

The West Coast Health Alliance also comes amid reports that Connecticut was one of eight states to send public health officials to a recent meeting about forming their own regional alliance. Such an effort would allow states to make health recommendations and guidance directly to the public. Sens. Looney and Duff encouraged Connecticut officials to pursue these partnerships.

“With COVID vaccines restricted to the public for the first time, and guidelines for their use suddenly changing more than four years after they were first used to save hundreds of thousands of lives, the government has gone from heavily encouraging vaccination to sowing distrust in it,” said Sen. Looney. “Those who can remember the scourges of polio, measles, and other illnesses that plagued, sickened, and killed Americans before vaccines know this is a dangerous direction. It follows conspiracy theories with no evidence over years of trusted, published data. Connecticut should turn away from that path. A northeastern collaborative effort to provide residents with science-based advice and recommendations can make sure our state is focused on health above narrative and reality over propaganda.”

“It’s odd that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. opposes vaccines when his own Centers for Disease Control estimated this year that COVID vaccines saved more than 5,000 lives, prevented 13,000 ICU visits, and averted 68,000 hospitalizations just in the winter of 2024. The COVID vaccine has saved 2.5 million lives across the globe since its introduction,” said Sen. Duff. “When his own staff is resigning and walking out of offices to protest his actions, it’s clear we can no longer fully trust the CDC, FDA, or HHS. It’s with that foresight that I commend the West Coast Health Alliance and call upon Connecticut and our allies in the Northeast to follow suit. The people of New England and the Northeast, home to some of the best colleges and health care in the nation, deserve confidence when researching the best health decisions for themselves.”

The West Coast Health Alliance will coordinate health guidance across its three states. It will focus on evidence-based immunization recommendations and provide residents with consistent and credible health information.

According to media reports, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington cited the politicization of the CDC and the mass firing of doctors and scientists as reasons for the Alliance. The HHS responded with a politicized statement attacking Democrats.

On the same day the Alliance was announced, Florida’s surgeon general declared that the Republican-led state would move to end all vaccine requirements for children.

Looney, Duff Urge Connecticut Towns, Cities to Review Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Priorities

Following the Manchester Board of Directors August meeting which addressed whether the town’s membership in the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) aligned with Manchester’s needs in light of CCM’s opposition to a key pro-housing bill passed by the General Assembly and then vetoed by Governor Lamont, Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) urged other Connecticut towns and cities to review their residents’ priorities and compare them to those of CCM.

Should town and CCM priorities differ, the Senate leaders said, municipal leaders should consider whether their municipality’s membership remains beneficial to them.

“No two towns in Connecticut have exactly the same needs, but many of them know we’re facing a deepening housing crunch,” said Sen. Looney. “For an organization purporting to represent the best interests of municipalities to emphasize rejection of already-passed legislation that would help address local housing needs suggests a disturbing gulf in priorities. I would encourage municipal leaders to take time to review CCM’s advocacy role and compare the benefits of membership with its messaging efforts opposing policies that could help them. The results could be striking.”

“I applaud Manchester leaders for recognizing their priorities supporting housing and labor may run in opposition to those held by organizations they are members of,” said Sen. Duff. “With CCM taking a more active role in calling for action on key legislation, I encourage more leaders to take time to reflect on best practices and next steps in rectifying the potential gap between their priorities and CCM priorities.”

CT Insider reported in August that Manchester’s Board of Directors voted to write a letter to CCM following the organization’s opposition to House Bill 5002, a major affordable housing bill that would have created significant new opportunities for housing units and alleviated the state’s housing crisis as well as spurring needed economic development. While CCM’s opposition alleged the bill would remove local control over zoning, Manchester’s response stated the bill’s policies were essential to combating homelessness and housing insecurity in Connecticut, issues that represent critical pressures on Connecticut residents and municipalities alike.

CCM was a leader in an effort to lobby Governor Lamont after House Bill 5002 passed both chambers of the General Assembly. While Lamont did not express opposition to the bill prior to its passage, he would ultimately veto it following a weeks-long campaign of opposition by detractors, leaving Connecticut’s housing shortfall of hundreds of thousands of units unaddressed.

In fact, CCM’s own messaging in April, in reference to its claims of municipalities being underfunded by the state, cited “surging” housing costs as a key issue impacting state residents. Its June statement in response to Lamont’s veto also recognizes “the urgent need to expand housing opportunities across the state” – in response to rejection of a bill passed by both chambers seeking to do just that.