House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero sent a letter to lawmakers Wednesday making sure they understood that when they passed a bill yesterday offering good time credits to inmates it included all inmates even those convicted of violent crimes.
Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, said the bill was not intended to offer risk reduction credits to criminals convicted of violent crimes such as murder and aggravated sexual assault.
But Cafero says the language in the legislation says otherwise.
“Representations made on the House floor were inaccurate,” Cafero wrote in his letter to lawmakers. “In fact, under the bill we passed yesterday, all will be eligible for these risk reduction earned credits immediately, retroactive to April 1, 2006.”
It’s that retroactivity which could give some inmates up to 300 days off their sentences.
Fox said he’s working to correct the language with an amendment to another piece of legislation since the legislation including the error is already on its way to the Senate.
“My intention is that those crimes would be included,” Fox said.
Click here to read Hugh’s report on passage of the legislation.
