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Excessive, Unjust, And Expensive: Fixing Connecticut’s Probation And Parole Problems

On Tuesday, May 23, 2023 we released a new groundbreaking report with the Prison Policy Initiative titled “Excessive, unjust, and expensive: Fixing Connecticut’s probation and parole problems.”  It focuses on how the system of community supervision in Connecticut — probation, parole in all its various types — too often becomes a revolving door for people who get stuck in the system. 

In Connecticut today, nearly 35,000 people are under probation or parole. Of that number, more than 30,000 people statewide – almost 1% of the entire population — are on probation in our state. That’s nearly three times the number of people incarcerated in Connecticut. 

To reform Connecticut’s probation and parole systems and address overly punitive responses to violation of supervision, this report provides four comprehensive reforms that have proven successful in other states across the country. 

Here are the four recommendations to make Connecticut’s community supervision system more effective, just and equitable:

  • Restrict the use of incarceration for verified noncriminal “technical” violations.
  • Eliminate automatic detention for noncriminal “technical” violations.
  • Apply earned time credit to supervision sentences. 
  • Bolster due process. 
 

About #LessIsMoreNY and Parole Reform in New York State – Fact Sheet

On September 17, 2021, the Less Is More: Community Supervision Revocation Reform Act was signed into law in New York. It restricts the use of incarceration for breaking noncriminal parole rules (“technical violations”), bolsters due process for people accused of violations, and provides “earned-time” credits to those who follow the rules. The new law also requires the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to provide people on parole access to community-based drug treatment and mental health services.

To download the fact sheet, please click here.

See the version with full citations here.

Bail Reform in New York — Fact Sheet

On April 1, 2019, after years of work by grassroots groups and advocates across New York, lawmakers in Albany passed a historic slate of criminal justice reform bills to address the pretrial incarceration crisis in New York. 

Recently, Governor Hochul proposed rolling back bail reform and other much needed criminal justice reforms. Katal opposes efforts to roll back bail reform. It is wrong to hold people in jail simply because they cannot pay bail. It is racist to detain mostly Black and Latinx people at Rikers and other jails while wealthier (and mostly white) defendants can pay their way to freedom.

To learn more, read our Bail Reform in New York Fact Sheet. 

See version with full citations here. 

New York’s Less Is More Act: A Status Report on Implementation

The #LessIsMoreNY Act was introduced in 2018, and more than 300 organizations joined with district attorneys, sheriffs, and former correctional officials to push for its passage. After years of persistent advocacy throughout New York, the state assembly and state senate passed the bill in June 2021. On September 17, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed it into law.

A major provision of the #LessIsMoreNY Act—the component limiting re-incarceration for technical violations—went into effect immediately when Governor Hochul signed the bill and announced that hundreds of people imprisoned at the Rikers Island jail complex for such noncriminal parole violations would be released immediately. The rest of the new law takes effect on March 1, with the exception of two provisions.

This report addresses the following:
• A summary of the main provisions of the Less Is More Act
• Progress and challenges with respect to implementation so far
• Next steps and recommendations

To download a PDF of the report, please click here.

Fact Sheet – #FreeThemNowCT

COVID-19 in Connecticut Prisons and Jails: #FreeThemNowCT

As Connecticut continues to confront COVID-19, Governor Ned Lamont and  state officials have failed to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle the crisis of  the novel coronavirus in jails and prisons. As a result, COVID-19 continues to  spread in correctional facilities in Connecticut—and deaths of incarcerated people  continues to rise. It is time for Connecticut to follow the recommendations of health experts and the demands of impacted families  — the state must decarcerate now, and develop a coherent plan to keep incarcerated people safe in the midst of a pandemic.

Read our #FreeThemNowCT fact sheet here.

Fact Sheet – #FreeThemNowNY

COVID-19 in New York Prisons and Jails: #FreeThemNowNY 

As New York State continues to confront the worst public health crisis in the  last century, Governor Andrew Cuomo and state officials have failed to develop  a comprehensive plan to tackle the crisis of the novel coronavirus in jails and  prisons across the state. As a result, COVID-19 continues to spread in jails and  prisons in New York—and deaths of incarcerated people continue to rise. It is time for New York to follow the recommendations of health experts and the demands of impacted families — the state must decarcerate now, and develop a coherent plan to keep incarcerated people safe in the midst of a pandemic.

Read our #FreeThemNowNY fact sheet here.

MAT in CT Jails and Prisons – Fact Sheet 

Addressing Addiction and Preventing Overdose in CT:

Providing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Jails and Prisons

People struggling with addiction deserve treatment and care. However, due to stigma, criminalization, and the failed war on drugs, people are being prevented from accessing the care and the support they need to live healthy lives. Read our fact sheet on how to implement Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Connecticut jails and prisons here.

MAT in NY Jails and Prisons – Fact Sheet 

Addressing Addiction and Preventing Overdose in NY:

Providing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Jails and Prisons

People struggling with addiction deserve treatment and care. However, due to stigma, criminalization, and the failed war on drugs, people are being prevented from accessing the care and the support they need to live healthy lives.

Read our fact sheet on how to implement Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) in New York State jails and prisons here.

Connecticut Criminal Justice Reform Field Scan (2018) 

Download the full Connecticut Criminal Justice Reform Field Scan, prepared by the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice here.

In 2018, the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice conducted a Connecticut Criminal Justice Field Scan. The Field Scan served several goals: first, we wanted to review where Connecticut stands in its efforts to end mass incarceration and for that assessment to be directly informed by groups working across the field. Second, we wanted to better understand how the Connecticut criminal justice field – and those who are connected to criminal justice reform efforts but who are not per se criminal justice reformers – perceived progress in our state comparatively to states across the nation, and learn what further efforts were needed to advance decarceration – both in the 2019 legislative session under a new governor, and long-term. Third, we wanted an increased understanding of the range of groups, coalitions, and networks currently working to end mass incarceration in Connecticut – and to uncover new configurations and relationships that may have developed. Finally, we wanted to bring together a wide range of voices – both familiar leaders and unfamiliar folks on the ground around the state – to solicit input about the best path forward to further strengthen the movement to end mass incarceration in Connecticut.

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