Criminal Justice Commission

Minutes of the Special Informational Meeting
March 5, 2019
Legislative Office Building
Hartford, Connecticut

The Criminal Justice Commission met for a Special Informational Meeting on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, at the Legislative Office Building. The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair, convened the meeting at 6:06 p.m.

Also in attendance were:  The Honorable Juliett L. Crawford, attorneys Mary M. Galvin, Eric George, Moy Ogilvie and Erick A. Russell, and Chief State’s Attorney Kevin T. Kane.

Justice McDonald explained the meeting was called as a follow-up to an earlier meeting with himself, Chief State’s Attorney Kane and Scott X. Esdaile, President of the Connecticut NAACP, and Tamara Lanier, Connecticut NAACP Criminal Justice Chair.

Invited guests, in addition to Mr. Esdaile and Ms. Lanier, were David McGuire, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, Senator Gary A. Winfield, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Judiciary, Representative Brandon L. McGee, Chair of the Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, and Representative Matt Blumenthal, Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Marc Pelka, Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning in the Office of Policy and Management. Representative Robyn A. Porter joined the meeting later.

Justice McDonald and Chief State’s Attorney Kane gave an overview of the history of the Criminal Justice Commission and its responsibilities.

Justice McDonald opened a discussion where the invited guests presented their concerns about the Criminal Justice Commission and the Division of the Division of Criminal Justice. The discussion included concerns about the appointment and reappointment process for prosecutors, lack of data on prosecutorial decision-making, prosecution of hate crimes, accountability of prosecutors, diversity in the prosecutorial workforce, racial disparity in the prison population and the investigations of police use of Tasers and police-involved shootings.

Mr. Esdaile asked the Commission for its support of S.B. No. 880, An Act Increasing Fairness and Transparency in the Criminal Justice System, H.B. No. 6710, An Act Concerning Prosecutorial Reform and Recommendations Concerning Transparency and Public Input, and H.B. No. 6722, An Act Concerning Prosecutorial Reform Recommendations Concerning the Composition of the Criminal Justice Commission and the Public Defenders Service Commission.

Following discussion, Justice McDonald thanked Mr. Esdaile for initiating the discussion. Chief State’s Attorney Kane stated that a future meeting or meetings with the State’s Attorneys might be helpful.

There were no motions made and no votes taken during the Special Informational Meeting, which concluded at 7:47 p.m.