Crowded jails, ban on parole protested
Community members urge overturning of Rell’s parole suspension
As the light of street lamps illuminated a swirl of mist and drizzle, more than 65 protestors rallied Monday evening in front of the Whalley Avenue jail, demanding that the state provide its citizens with “books, not bars.”
Community members and activist groups, joining together in protest of state legislation that would spend $260 million for two new prisons, called on Governor M. Jodi Rell to rescind her temporary ban on parole for violent offenders. Critics have charged that since being implemented in September, the ban has led to a swell in prison populations in Connecticut,...
We need more prisons because the mandatory minimum sentences for anyone convicted of a violent crime, regardless of their age, should be 30 years. Currently, people commit crimes and are able to get away with a couple years of jail time because the jails are too crowded. There needs to be national funding for more prisons, not just state funding.