Archive for October 2, 2007
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave
Oct 2nd
It must’ve been an eventful day in Hartford Superior Court today, when alarm bells went off after a man escaped from the courthouse. Escaped from the courthouse, you say! How did this happen? Just another sign that our criminal justice system is failing. (You should’ve seen the mid-day news reports)
He was allowed to leave. Seems like he either got a Promise to Appear (PTA – released to his own recognizance) or posted bond. However, the folks from the psychiatric hospital (where he voluntarily admitted himself) were left out of the loop and set off the alarm, informing police that he had simply “walked out” of court. Which he was perfectly entitled to do.
What followed was a manhunt for this individual, who was eventually arrested.
Officers began intensely searching the busy streets surrounding the courthouse, ultimately finding the man and taking him into custody. Police said it was later determined that the man was within his rights to leave court unattended.
I’m sorry, but how difficult is it to find out if the man was allowed to leave before calling in the State Police?
That damn system…once she’s got her hooks into you, there’s no escape! No wonder our clients are disillusioned with the system.
So, to mercilessly beat the dead horse, here’s a song:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJt86UqHtX8[/youtube]
Prison overcrowding? No such thing!
Oct 2nd
The title of my post last evening was slightly off. By all accounts, Comm’r Lantz seems to believe that there is no such thing as an overcrowded prison.
With the state’s prison population at a record high after Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s recent restrictions on parole, legislators futilely pressed Monday to learn how many more inmates can be safely confined.
Correction Commissioner Theresa Lantz suggested that the ultimate capacity of the prison system is unknowable, an answer that left some legislators slack-jawed.
Lantz described a prison system that is “fluid,” expanding and contracting to accommodate a changing population, despite existing in the finite realm of steel and concrete.
Yeah, she really said that.
Thankfully, legislators weren’t buying that.
This is going to be a real problem. The prison population has already increased by almost 600 inmates in a span of two months and they’re living on mattresses and beds laid out on gym floors and in large open spaces. This is in addition to the already crowded dorms.
I guess the only thing one can do at this point is hope that the legislature takes some action (like, maybe, enforcing a statute or recognizing the inherent separation of powers problem here) or some inmate files a lawsuit challenging either the conditions at a facility or the deprivation of his liberty interest in parole and pray that no one gets hurt in the meantime.
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