State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

Governor's Sentencing & Parole Review Task Force

TASK FORCE CHAIRPERSONS AND MEMBERS

Below are the three Chairpersons for the Governor’s Sentencing and Parole Review Task Force:
  • Thomas West of Danbury was appointed to the Appellate Court in 2002.  Judge West served as a Superior Court Judge for 18 years, presiding over housing, criminal, civil and administrative cases at courthouses in Stamford-Norwalk and Waterbury.  Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge West worked for the Norwalk/Stamford/Danbury Regional Legal Services.
  • Lisa Holden of West Hartford has served as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Inc. (CCADV) since June, 2000.  She is CCADV’s public policy advocate and liaison with outside state and national agencies and organizations.  Holden serves on multiple statewide advisory committees, including the Office of the Victim Advocate, the Office of Victim Services, the Grants to Encourage Arrest Project Committee, and the Task Force on Trafficking in Persons.
  • Mary Galvin of Columbia, South Carolina served as state’s attorney for the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District prior to retiring.  She is currently dean of the National College of District Attorneys in Columbia, South Carolina, which is a division of the National District Attorneys Association. A nationally recognized authority on arson, she has taught trial practice at the Yale University Law School and fire and arson investigation at the University of New Haven.
Photo State Capitol

TASK FORCE MEMBERS
The panel will also include representatives of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Department of Correction, the Judicial Branch and law enforcement.  They are:
  • Ana Alfaro of Windsor serves as a Public Affairs Specialist for the Connecticut Light & Power Company.  She has over 20 years of diverse experience in many aspects of marketing ranging from public, media and community relations to presentations, production of television programs/ commercials plus designing marketing and public relations plans.  She is also the host of the NBC 30 and Ch13 Telemundo -ADELANTE TV SHOW - a public affairs program. 
  • Brian Austin of Granby was appointed the state’s first Under Secretary of Criminal Justice Policy and Planning in July, 2006.  Under Secretary Austin had been a prosecutor with the State of Connecticut's Division of Criminal Justice since 1998.  Prior to his employment at the Division of Criminal Justice, he worked as an attorney for the Legal Bureau of the New York City Police Department.
  • David Blackwell of Manchester served the 12th House District as its State Representative from 1999 through 2003.  He is a partner at Blackwell, Davis, & Spadaccini, a full service law firm in Manchester.  Blackwell is affiliated with a transaction-based clinical legal program at the University of Connecticut School of Law where he is an adjunct instructor of a law school course entitled, “Building Urban Communities.”
  • William Carbone of New Haven is the Executive Director of the Court Support Services Division of the Connecticut Judicial Branch.  Carbone directs and manages over 1600 employees involved with adult and juvenile probation, family services, juvenile detention, alternative sanctions and pretrial release.  He also teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in various aspects of the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.
  • Linda Cimino of Glastonbury has served as the Director of the Connecticut Office of Victim Services (OVS) since January 2000.  Cimino is an adjunct lecturer at the University of New Haven where she teaches victimology.  Prior to her tenure at OVS, Cimino was the Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence for five years.
  • Eric Crawford of Hartford is currently employed as the Intervention Specialist for the Capital Region Education Council.  He worked for 12 years as a drug abuse counselor and consultant for the Department of Correction, working with at-risk youth, providing gang mediation services at Manson Youth Institution and creating recreational services that linked education and recreation curriculum to address the needs of juvenile justice clientele throughout the statewide detention centers. 
  • John Danaher of West Hartford was named Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Safety in February by Governor Rell.  A former Assistant United States Attorney, Danaher supervised the federal prosecutions of former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano and former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim.  The Department of Public Safety includes the Division of State Police, the Division of Fire, Emergency and Building Services, and the Division of Scientific Services, which conducts forensic investigations.
  • Robert Farr of West Hartford was appointed by Governor Rell to chair the State Board of Pardons and Paroles in February, 2007. He represented West Hartford, Avon and Farmington as state representative of 19th District of the General Assembly for 26 years.
  • Thomas Flaherty of Milford serves as Executive Director of the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST).  He served nearly 40 years as a police officer, including the last 18 as chief of the Milford Police Department.  POST is charged with the development and implementation of a comprehensive municipal police training plan, has jurisdiction over the Connecticut Police Academy, and sets continuing education requirements for municipal police officers.
  • Kevin Kane of Killingworth was appointed Chief State’s Attorney by the Criminal Justice Commission in September, 2006.   As Chief State's Attorney, Kane is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the State of Connecticut.
  • James Kenny of South Windsor is the Chief of Police in Vernon, overseeing more than 50 highly trained officers. Kenny has been Chief since January, 2007 after being promoted from Captain to the position.  He served 21 years with the Glastonbury Police Department, retiring as a Lieutenant. He graduated from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island with a degree in Criminal Justice and attended the Command Training Course at Roger Williams College.
  • Thomas Kirk of Cheshire was appointed Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services in May, 2000.  Kirk is the chair of the Connecticut Community Mental Health Strategy Board and co-chair of the Alcohol and Drug Policy and Mental Health Policy Councils.  Kirk served as co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health, which helped set the strategic direction for mental health and substance abuse services in Connecticut.
  • Theresa Lantz of Manchester was appointed Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) in March, 2003.  She has served DOC in a variety of capacities since 1989, including Deputy Commissioner and Warden at three high security facilities. She is an adjunct instructor and a member of the Criminal Justice Advisory Board at Tunxis Community College.
  • Lisa MacDonald of West Hartford is an attorney with the MacDonald Law Group, LLC.  MacDonald represents mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers in matters of state and federal regulatory compliance and administrative actions before the Connecticut Department of Banking.  She is a member of the Metropolitan District Commission, representing West Hartford.
  • Maureen Price-Boreland of Durham serves as Executive Director of Community Partners in Action, a nonprofit prison rehabilitation program in Hartford.  The agency provides services that promote accountability, dignity, and restoration for people affected by the criminal justice system.
  • Judge Barbara Quinn of Cheshire was appointed Deputy Chief Court Administrator in April, 2007. Prior to her appointment, Judge Quinn served as chief administrative judge of juvenile matters.  She was appointed to the bench in 1996 and is a former vice president of the Connecticut Bar Association.
  • Susan Storey of Durham serves as the state’s Chief Public Defender. She joined the Connecticut Division of Public Defender Services in 1984 and subsequently was appointed to positions in the Hartford and Middletown Judicial Districts and the Capital Defense Unit. Storey was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief Public Defender in 1994, and Chief Public Defender in 2006.  She graduated from Mount Holyoke College and received her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.