Press Releases
05/30/2018
Governor and Mrs. Malloy Host Criminal Justice Community at First-in-the-Nation Conference Inside a Maximum Security Prison
‘Reimagining Justice 2018: Outside In’ Provides Officials with Opportunity to Discuss Innovative Perspectives on Reducing Crime and Ending Mass Incarceration
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy and First Lady Cathy Malloy today hosted Connecticut’s criminal justice community at a conference inside of the Cheshire Correctional Institution that was designed to build upon recent efforts in the state to reform the criminal justice system in order to reduce crime and end the cycle of mass incarceration. Attended by about 150 frontline officials – including judges, prosecutors, victim advocates, corrections officers, legislators, incarcerated individuals, educational leaders, and others – this was the first time in the nation that a conference of this kind was held within the walls of a maximum security prison, giving attendees an opportunity to view such a facility from the inside while discussing the impact that the policies they implement have on the very people who serve time in these kinds of institutions.
The conference, Reimagining Justice 2018: Outside In, was a continuation of the Reimagining Justice conference the Governor and First Lady held at a conference center in Hartford in June 2017, which brought together 450 officials from across the country for a discussion on criminal justice reform.
“Connecticut is reimagining its criminal justice system and focusing on second chances rather than permanent punishment and stigma that holds people back from obtaining employment and leading successful lives,” Governor Malloy said. “By implementing smart criminal justice policies, we’ve managed to drastically reduce our prison population while simultaneously reducing recidivism and violent crime. Our state has been on the leading edge of reforming the system by working with people both in and outside of the system, and the result has been less crime, fewer victims, fewer prisoners, and reduced costs to taxpayers. All of this is to say – we can reduce the prison population and improve public safety at the same time, and the proof is right here at home.”
“Having the opportunity to visit a prison can make a significant impact on a person, in terms of changing their perception and views on those individuals who they encounter and the circumstances of their incarceration,” Mrs. Malloy said. “In most cases, you may never know what led them into the system – they represent the members of our community, our neighborhoods, in fact they could be a relative of a friend, a co-worker or a member of our own family. These individuals have unfortunately taken a different path in their lives – for some it was a long journey, and others it was a matter of a split second that turn their lives upside down. Many of the individuals are victims themselves. By bringing the ‘outside in,’ we are taking a step and perhaps a symbolic step to open a dialogue about the impact of incarceration – on the inmates themselves, our communities, the families of the inmates, and the victims of crime. In Connecticut, we are working very hard to continue the progress we have made in reimagining criminal justice and to bring more of those stakeholders into the conversation. This work is not only about improving the correctional institutions themselves, but working toward programs that keep our young people from entering the system in the first place.”
Today’s event was highlighted by a tour of the institution’s T.R.U.E. Unit, which was created in March 2017 and houses offenders between the ages of 18 to 25 with the goal of preventing young adults who have committed nonviolent crimes from beginning a life of crime that returns them to prison. The only of its kind in the country, the unit provides young offenders with access to developmentally appropriate programming that seeks to engage them as productive members of society.
Attendees of today’s conference also participated in multiple several panel discussions on several topics, including the challenges that crime victims face in the criminal justice system, best practices that produce successful offender community re-entry, and educational opportunities that are offered in correctional facilities. A keynote speech was delivered by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John E. Wetzel, and special remarks were made by Michael Smith, the Executive Director of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.
Since taking office in 2011, Governor Malloy has made a number of reforms to the state’s criminal justice system – particularly through his Second Chance Society initiatives – that have helped create in positive impacts in crime reduction and mass incarceration efforts. Some of these include:
- Raising the age for what constitutes a juvenile in the court system.
- Implementing bail reform that ended harmful practices that left people in jail simply for being poor.
- Reducing the penalty for possession of drugs from a felony with a seven-year maximum sentence to a misdemeanor with a maximum of one year in jail, no mandatory sentence.
- Establishing expedited pardon and parole processes for nonviolent, no-victim offenses.
- Enacting policies that ensure the fair treatment of women in prison.
Over the last several years, FBI statistics have shown a continual decrease in crime:
- The crime rate in Connecticut is at its lowest level in 50 years.
- Over the last four years, Connecticut has experienced the largest reduction in violent crime of any state in the nation.
- The annual number of reported crimes in Connecticut has dropped 26 percent since 2008.
- The total number of statewide arrests in Connecticut has dropped 29 percent since 2008, and are down 10 percent since last year.
- The state’s prison population has dropped to 13,350 inmates – its lowest level since 1994. (The all-time high was in 2008 when it reached 19,893 inmates.)
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