Archive for July 19, 2007
Top prosecutor controversy won’t die
Jul 19th
The controversy over the Criminal Justice Commission’s choice for Hartford’s new top prosecutor [previous coverage here] won’t go quietly into the night. Yesterday, the Courant published this letter [scroll to the bottom] to the editor from a current Hartford prosecutor. Today, they have this story covering all the reactions to the appointment and the ensuing controversy.
In the week since Gail P. Hardy’s appointment as the first African American to be lead prosecutor of a judicial district in the state, some of her new staff and the outgoing prosecutor have raised questions about whether the state’s Criminal Justice Commission selected the most qualified candidate.
The commission chairman, state Supreme Court Justice Richard N. Palmer, said Wednesday he has never denied that diversity played a role in the commission’s decision to hire Hardy. But he said her race was not the only relevant factor.The application of the 44-year-old Hardy included recommendations from a presiding judge, a state’s attorney, a police chief, the president of the Hartford NAACP, her pastor at a Hartford church and others, Palmer said. She presented herself as a well-rounded candidate, who not only had experience as a prosecutor but experience in other aspects of the state’s justice system, Palmer said.
Connecticut’s chief state’s attorney, Kevin Kane, has spoken to the prosecutors in the Hartford office:
Hardy’s supporters, including Kevin Kane, the lead prosecutor for the state, and Hardy’s current boss, Waterbury State’s Attorney John A. Connelly, said Wednesday that Hardy can overcome the obstacles created by the controversy.
Kane declined to address the controversy, but said he has talked with prosecutors in the Hartford office and is “confident” that “together they will do a good job.”
I don’t really care about the controversy, except that it makes for good reading. What I do care about is the impact that a Waterbury prosecutor will have on the death penalty policy in Hartford.
Technorati Tags: gail hardy, prosecutor, hartford, connecticut
Racial disparity, cont’d…
Jul 19th
More on yesterday’s report. Judiciary co-chair Mike Lawlor weighs in:
That shows the disparities may be more between the rich and the poor, said state Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
Connecticut’s white population is unusually rich, meaning more white offenders can afford the best attorneys and avoid prison than minority defendants, Lawlor said.
Uh, what? Rep. Lawlor, in case you didn’t know, your state (my state, our state) has one of the best public defender systems in the country. I would rather be represented by a public defender in this state. Please, do not disparage the brilliant attorneys working for our division so. Them’s fightin’ words – and a little heartbreaking 
You want to know another reason why the racial disparity is such? Because we classify non-violent drug offenders are violent based on their past history and keep them in jail longer.
That’s not to say CT hasn’t taken steps:
The legislature in 2005 increased the amount of crack cocaine a person must carry to be charged with planning to sell drugs. A commission of legislators, officials and policy experts is studying sentencing reform, including possibly changing the state’s mandatory minimum drug laws.
Nearly two-thirds of defendants charged with mandatory minimum drug crimes are black or Hispanic, state statistics show.
“The overrepresentation of people of color in our correctional institutions has long been of great concern to me,” Correction Commissioner Theresa Lantz said. “While I can’t control who is placed in my custody, I strive to address literacy, employment skills, sobriety and housing during incarceration, so that these individuals are prepared for a productive re-entry to their communities.”
Sentencing disparities anyone?
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