Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed reducing penalities for possessing marijuana, sentencing some drunken drivers to house arrest and raising the age for juvenile offenders as part of a series of actions he says will ease crowding in the prisons and the courts and save money.
Also, Malloy reiterated in his budget address Wednesday that funding is available for a crime-information computer that tracks offenders from arrest to release — the centerpiece of a group of reforms that were passed, but not fully funded, after the Cheshire murders in 2007.
Under Malloy's budget proposal, pot smokers caught with less than an ounce of marijuana would be subject to a fine instead of a possible jail term, similar to Massachusetts' marijuana law.
"Obviously, this doesn't apply to anyone selling marijuana; it's for the person caught with a few joints,'' said Michael Lawlor, the former state representative and prosecutor who is Malloy's chief of criminal justice policy and planning.
Malloy is also proposing to give the corrections commissioner the discretion to have drunken drivers serve their sentences at home. There are typically 100 to 150 convicted drunken drivers serving time at the Bergin Correctional Institute in Storrs.
Drunken drivers convicted of their second or third offense would still receive the mandatory three-month and one-year mandatory sentences, respectively, but the court could direct they serve the sentence under house arrest.
"The decision for house arrest would be made on a case by case basis,'' Lawlor said.
The offenders would wear a GPS device and a sensor bracelet that detects alcohol use through the skin. If an offender's driving privileges are restored, then the car would be equipped with an ignition lock that is triggered by the sensor bracelet when alcohol is detected.
The offenders would undergo mandatory alcohol treatment, and those who are employed would keep working.
Advocates support the initiative.
"They don't get treatment in prison, so that was a big point for us, as was the ignition interlock,'' said Janice Heggie Margolis, the former emergency-room nurse who heads the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
She stressed that those offenders who cause serious injury or death would still be sent to prison.
Some of the proposals would need legislative approval.
Malloy's plan also allows prison inmates who behave to accumulate "reduced-risk'' credits to shorten their sentences, a recommendation that former Corrections Commissioner Theresa Lantz made to the legislature two years ago.
The governor's budget extends the maximum age of juvenile offenders from 16 to 17, which means more young offenders could end up at the state's controversial Connecticut Juvenile Training School. The initiative puts more pressure on the state to monitor the population at the juvenile jail, Lawlor acknowledged.
"Half the kids at CJTS are parole violators. We have to figure out a better way and a better place to manage that population,'' Lawlor said.
After peaking at about 20,000 in 2009, the state's prison population dipped below 18,000 last year.
Ben Barnes, Malloy's budget director, said the aim is to continue that trend. He said the administration would look to cut overtime, close wings and consolidate space where possible in the prison system to save money.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: courant.com
Author: JOSH KOVNER
Copyright: 2011 A Tribune Newspaper
Contact: Contact Us - Courant.com
Website: Malloy plan cuts pot penalties - Courant.com
Also, Malloy reiterated in his budget address Wednesday that funding is available for a crime-information computer that tracks offenders from arrest to release — the centerpiece of a group of reforms that were passed, but not fully funded, after the Cheshire murders in 2007.
Under Malloy's budget proposal, pot smokers caught with less than an ounce of marijuana would be subject to a fine instead of a possible jail term, similar to Massachusetts' marijuana law.
"Obviously, this doesn't apply to anyone selling marijuana; it's for the person caught with a few joints,'' said Michael Lawlor, the former state representative and prosecutor who is Malloy's chief of criminal justice policy and planning.
Malloy is also proposing to give the corrections commissioner the discretion to have drunken drivers serve their sentences at home. There are typically 100 to 150 convicted drunken drivers serving time at the Bergin Correctional Institute in Storrs.
Drunken drivers convicted of their second or third offense would still receive the mandatory three-month and one-year mandatory sentences, respectively, but the court could direct they serve the sentence under house arrest.
"The decision for house arrest would be made on a case by case basis,'' Lawlor said.
The offenders would wear a GPS device and a sensor bracelet that detects alcohol use through the skin. If an offender's driving privileges are restored, then the car would be equipped with an ignition lock that is triggered by the sensor bracelet when alcohol is detected.
The offenders would undergo mandatory alcohol treatment, and those who are employed would keep working.
Advocates support the initiative.
"They don't get treatment in prison, so that was a big point for us, as was the ignition interlock,'' said Janice Heggie Margolis, the former emergency-room nurse who heads the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
She stressed that those offenders who cause serious injury or death would still be sent to prison.
Some of the proposals would need legislative approval.
Malloy's plan also allows prison inmates who behave to accumulate "reduced-risk'' credits to shorten their sentences, a recommendation that former Corrections Commissioner Theresa Lantz made to the legislature two years ago.
The governor's budget extends the maximum age of juvenile offenders from 16 to 17, which means more young offenders could end up at the state's controversial Connecticut Juvenile Training School. The initiative puts more pressure on the state to monitor the population at the juvenile jail, Lawlor acknowledged.
"Half the kids at CJTS are parole violators. We have to figure out a better way and a better place to manage that population,'' Lawlor said.
After peaking at about 20,000 in 2009, the state's prison population dipped below 18,000 last year.
Ben Barnes, Malloy's budget director, said the aim is to continue that trend. He said the administration would look to cut overtime, close wings and consolidate space where possible in the prison system to save money.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: courant.com
Author: JOSH KOVNER
Copyright: 2011 A Tribune Newspaper
Contact: Contact Us - Courant.com
Website: Malloy plan cuts pot penalties - Courant.com
