Judiciary Committee Advances Bills Inspired by Randy Cox Incident
A legislative panel advanced two bills this week intended to change police policy in response to an incident last year in New Haven, where an unsecured man was partially paralyzed after he was slammed against the wall of a police van.
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OP-ED | Spitting In The Face Of Facts
Guest opinion writer Jason Courtmanche says that when E.O. Smith High School had a bomb threat Wednesday, the students showed courage. But when it comes to keeping students safe from school shootings, he says Republicans at the state and congressional level are failing that test.
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Connecticut Senators Promote Results of National Gun Law
A bipartisan package of gun control reforms passed last year by Congress has already prevented more than 100 troubled young people from buying weapons and allowed the seizure of hundreds of firearms from gun traffickers, Connecticut’s U.S. senators said Friday.
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OP-ED | Dumbing America Down, Digitally
Opinion writer Tom Purcell says IQs have dropped for the first time in the American history, and the experts aren’t quite sure why. It’s a drastic reversal of the “Flynn effect,” a phenomenon in which “IQ scores have substantially increased from 1932 through the 20th century, with differences ranging from three to five IQ points per decade.”
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New Limits on Prison Strip Searches Stall in Committee as Lawmakers Explore Alternatives
The Judiciary Committee opted Thursday to explore purchasing body scanners to reduce the need for strip searches within Connecticut prisons rather than requiring correctional staff to document probable cause before conducting a search.
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Mass Shootings versus TikTok
Editorial cartoon by Rick McKee. Mass Shootings versus TikTok.
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Bill to Decriminalize Psilocybin in Connecticut Advances Out of Committee
Lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee moved forward Thursday with a proposal to decriminalize psilocybin. The bill would make possession of small amounts of the psychedelic mushroom a ticketable infraction in Connecticut rather than an arrestable offense.
Keep readingOP-ED | Re-Entry Conversation Forgets One Community
We have spent the last several years reckoning with the racial disparities inherent in our criminal legal system. In recognition that most people convicted of a crime eventually return to our communities, we have rightly focused on the importance of re-entry and reducing some of the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction so that people who have served their time are able to rebuild their…
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Connecticut Bill Would Raise Bar For Permitting Facilities In Already Polluted Areas
A bill backed by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection would give the agency, as well as the Connecticut Siting Council, the authority to deny or place conditions on a permit for polluting facilities in environmental justice communities if the cumulative environmental and health impacts there exceed a threshold higher than impacts borne…
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The Personal And Political Fallout Of A Tik Tok Ban
TikTok is the fastest-growing app on the planet with more than 150 million monthly users in the U.S. alone. But that popularity does not extend to Capitol Hill where its defenders are in the minority. Laura Barrón-López looks into the potential personal, political, and international fallout should the government outlaw the platform.
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Disability Advocates Fight For Access To Legislative Process
The legislative process, including public hearings, should be accessible to all, but individuals with disabilities have struggled this session to gain access and have been forced to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice.
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OP-ED | Making It Expensive For Racism To Exist
Opinion writer Susan Campbell says the court decision to broaden the definition of racism to include certain speech – such as “all lives matter” as a counterpoint to Black lives mattering in the context of a white woman who spat on a Black woman during a Hartford protest – may help set a precedent for a new age.
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Connecticut to Test Speed Enforcement Cameras in Work Zones Beginning in April
Certain work zones on Interstate 95, Route 2 and Route 8 will be equipped with speed enforcement cameras beginning next month when Connecticut rolls out a pilot program intended to reduce speeding on the state’s highways.
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Congressional Smoking Lapel Pin
Editorial cartoon by RJ Matson. Thoughts and prayers not enough, Senate chaplain says after Nashville shooting. Black urges lawmakers to “try some different things.”
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Resolution on Connecticut Witch Trials Moves Out of Judiciary Committee
Over the objections of several Republicans, the Judiciary Committee moved forward this week with a resolution to apologize for the convictions and, in some cases, execution of people accused of witchcraft in colonial-era Connecticut.
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Lamont Nominates 20 To The Bench
Gov. Ned Lamont forwarded 20 judicial nominations to the legislature Wednesday. The list of judicial nominees includes three former lawmakers: Dan Fox of Stamford, Jason Welch of Bristol and Paul Doyle of Wethersfield. “Our court system works best when it reflects the diversity, experience, and understanding of the people it serves,” Lamons said. “These individuals I am nominating have the qualifications that meet the high…
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Free School Lunches Debated
Lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee were divided Tuesday over whether Connecticut should extend the free and reduced lunch program to all school districts regardless of need.
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Wealthy Executives Make Millions Trading Competitors’ Stock With Remarkable Timing
Never-before-seen IRS records show that CEOs are sometimes making multimillion-dollar bets on the stocks of direct competitors and partners — and doing so with exquisite timing.
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Lamont’s Gun Proposals Move Out of Judiciary Committee
Lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to advance a proposal from Gov. Ned Lamont which would broaden Connecticut’s ban on certain semi-automatic rifles, prohibit the open carry of firearms, and strengthen restrictions on untraceable “ghost guns.”
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The US Surpasses 125 Mass Shootings In 2023—Here’s Every Event Mapped
The Nashville Covenant School shooting, which claimed the lives of three 9-year-olds and three adults on March 27, marked the country’s 130th mass shooting of 2023. The tragedy underscores another troubling trend in the U.S.—firearms are the leading cause of death in children between ages 1 and 19, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation data.
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Ranked Choice Voting Bills Fail in Committee
Proposals to explore or implement ranked choice voting options in Connecticut will not advance this year out of a legislative committee on election policy, which declined to vote on the bills before a key deadline later this week.
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OP-ED | Religious Objections Should Not Stall ‘Human Composting Bill’
Opinion writer Terry Cowgill highlights and endorses a bill to legalize “natural organic reduction” – also less eloquently dubbed “human composting” – as a climate-friendly alternative to traditional burials or cremation, both of which have an enormous negative impact on the environment.
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Advocates Promote Bill to Curtail Strip Searches in Connecticut Prisons
Opponents of the use of strip searches within Connecticut prisons sought Tuesday to build support for a bill curtailing the practice as the legislation faces a Friday deadline to advance out of the Judiciary Committee.
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Real Live Ignorance
Editorial cartoon by John Cole. A North Carolina gubernatorial candidate says ‘God formed me’ to fight LGBTQ+ issues, and polling tells us that even though they are facing hostile legislation, rising generations are more LGBTQ+ than ever (WRAL News & NC Policy Watch reporting).
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Connecticut’s Health Care Spending Topped $34B In 2021
Health care spending increased 6% between 2020 and 2021 and outpaced increases in household income.
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Survey: Connecticut’s Arts & Culture Industry Is Healthy, But Respondents Say It Can Be Better
The state’s arts and culture attractions are healthy but could be better with some small tweaks, according to a survey from Connecticut Humanities and the Arts Council of Connecticut.
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Prohibition on Underage Marriage Advances Out of Judiciary Committee
With support and concerns from both sides of the aisle, the legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted Monday to close a loophole in Connecticut law, which currently allows 16- and 17-year-olds to get married with the approval of a probate court.
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Connecticut Historical Society Gets Digitalization Funds
The Connecticut Historical Society brought U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy to its museum and library in Hartford on Monday to thank them for securing $1 million in federal funding for digitizing thousands of historic documents, many dating to the Revolutionary War.
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