THE CONNECTICUT
SECOND LOOK
SENTENCING PROJECT
No one should remain in prison when they no longer pose a risk to society. Our aim is to enact legislation that ensures that doesn't happen. Such legislation can redress historic racial bias (71% of those with Life Without Parole sentences in CT are people of color), save taxpayer dollars (on average it costs $185,000 to incarcerate someone in CT for a year), use that money to invest more in crime prevention, and end oversenten-cing while maintaining public safety.
$2B
spent annually on
corrections
in CT
10,000
people in
CT prisons
and jails
73%
of victims
favor reducing long sentences
1
law to enact
THE PROBLEM
Many of the concepts within our criminal legal system date back to medieval times, when the response to crime was punishment, plain and simple. There was no "rehabilitation"; inflicting pain and humiliation was considered the best deterent to criminal behavior. Even so, realizing that imprisoning people longer than necessary was unjust and hurt society at large, courts allowed periodic sentence review well into the 20th century. Then, starting in the 1970s, mandatory minimums, politics (remember Willie Horton?), and policies such as "three-strikes" drove up the number of people in prison in the U.S. nearly 800% from 1970 to 2008. Longer sentences were part of the reason for that explosion in numbers, since individuals serving sentences of 10 years or more tripled from 1999 through 2019. In 2019, 33% of CT's prison population was serving a sentence of at least 10 years.
Yet research has shown that long sentences are no more effective than shorter ones, and indeed, they may be worse for society overall, keeping families apart and wasting taxpayer dollars. Just as important: A disproportionate number of people of color in our prisons reveals a history of racism in the U.S. criminal legal system that demands redress. That’s why new approaches to sentencing and periodic reviews of sentences are essential.
Today, Connecticut has a "Correction" department, which suggests that the aim of prison is rehabilitation. Why, then, do so many people stay locked up for decades, even when they meet the criteria for "rehabilitated" or are highly unlikely to recommit a crime (like the 1100 incarcerated people now over age 55 in CT)? Conecticut’s pardons and parole system has not fully adopted reforms based on decades of this kind of compelling research. Reviewing long-sentences is not just about compassion; it’s about common sense.
THE PROPOSAL
Since 2014, the U.S. Congress and at least nine U.S. states have adopted second look sentencing, including DC, CA and MT. (Second look laws have existed in European nations for decades). More than 20 other states are currently considering second look legislation, driven by current research that suggests that it is the certainty of imprisonment, not the severity, that deters criminal behavior. Studies have also revealed that those paroled early are no more likely to return to prison than people who serve out their full sentences. There is also ample research showing that people “age out” of crime.
For all these reasons –and more, we are advocating for the enactment of legislation that requires the modification of almost all sentences after 10-15 years served. Ideally, hearings for these modifications would be in a new court established for this purpose. The law would create a review framework based not on re-litigation of the crime of conviction, but on the incarcerated individual's current risk to public safety along with their record of conduct, remorse shown and accomplishments while imprisoned.
Human beings can change. It is time to recognize that capacity for change and what it costs society to ignore that and instead over-sentence and essentially "disappear" incarcerated people, many of whom received their unduly long sentences when they were young and their brains were not entirely developed
WATCH OUR VIDEO
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The world is only changed by those who show up. Can you show up for us? All you need is some drive, the desire to be part of a team, and a pinch of passion. If you can do research on the Internet, work the phones, write articles, create social media content, do legal work, help build connections to coalition partners, or canvas legislators, you can help us achieve our mission. Or you can simply make a donation.
Be a part of this international movement towards smart sentencing reform, and make a transformational difference in an incarcerated person's life.
