NEW VOICES: Connecticut Lags Behind in Death Penalty Reforms

The Chair of Connecticut’s Judiciary Committee has called for enact­ment of death penal­ty reforms to pro­tect against wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Of the six reforms rec­om­mend­ed after a 13-month spe­cial com­mis­sion on Connecticut’s death penal­ty, only one has been enact­ed. Members of the com­mis­sion not­ed, ​“Experiences in oth­er states through­out the coun­try sug­gest that Connecticut can­not be com­pla­cent and ​‘best prac­tices’ should be the watch­word.” Among the rec­om­men­da­tions are video tap­ing of inter­ro­ga­tions, a blind and sequen­tial wit­ness ID process to reduce false iden­ti­fi­ca­tions, pre-tri­al hear­ings to eval­u­ate the valid­i­ty of jail house snitch tes­ti­mo­ny, improved access to DNA test­ing, and an ​“open file” pol­i­cy for pros­e­cu­tors in cap­i­tal cas­es. Rep. Michael Lawlor, Judiciary Co-chair, said that there have been no exe­cu­tions in Connecticut ​“because nobody real­ly wants to do it.” (New Haven Advocate, January 15, 2004) See New Voices and Recent Legislative Activity.