At Least Two-Thirds of Connecticut's Prisoners Have Serious Addictions

Latest estimates show that at least two-thirds of Connecticut's prisoners have serious addictions. Harsh drug policy in the state has resulted in a prison population growing by the thousands. In January, Gov. Rell signed a landmark criminal justice reform bill to spend millions on treating some drug offenders outside of prison. According to the April 18, 2008 Greenwhich Time article,("Drug Policy Group Opposes Tougher Three-Strikes Law") 'Focusing on treatment is the only way to trim the prison population, which reached record highs near 20,000 after Rell's parole ban, the report concluded. The state's Office of Policy and Management has estimated that the prison population will dip back below 19,000 by early 2009 if parole rates return to their normal levels and the state funds hundreds of new halfway house beds, as planned. At least one leading lawmaker has called that projection optimistic, and a separate estimate shows that the prison population could rise as high as 25,000 by 2012."

The article states, "Its authors recommended the state turn down the so-called three-strikes law mandating automatic life sentences for defendants convicted of a third violent felony. Democrats have blocked passage of several three-strikes proposals, arguing they wouldn't lead to life sentences in all cases because prosecutors can decide whether to pursue life sentences. Democrats also have said the proposals could cost the state at least $100 million in annual prison expenses. The Drug Policy Alliance report released yesterday goes far beyond three strikes in calling for a complete rethinking of the state's drug laws. The alliance has been a longtime critic of laws that carry mandatory minimum sentences ranging, from two to 10 years for several drug crimes. Those laws include bans on selling or possessing drugs within 1,500 feet of a public housing project, school or day care center. Critics, including the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, have said the laws have a disproportionate effect on minorities and cover nearly every part of urban areas. About two-thirds of people arrested statewide on mandatory minimum drug charges are Hispanic or black, according to a 2005 report by the state General Assembly's Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee. The only large areas in Stamford not within 1,500 feet of a public housing project, school or day care center are Long Island Sound and the region north of the Merritt Parkway. Pushes to change the state's drug laws have failed in each of the last two legislative sessions."

The article adds, "But the state has been on the cutting edge when it comes to keeping the mentally ill out of prison, according to the Drug Policy Alliance report and findings by several other non-profit organizations. Judges approved the release of more than 7,000 offenders under a state program that diverts the mentally ill from jail. A new law created a special probationary program that will allow some mentally ill offenders to have their arrest records wiped clean. The state should consider similar options for the approximately 3,000 to 4,000 inmates with serious or moderate mental health problems, the report concluded."