April 18, 2005 |
2005-R-0166 | |
CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION—NOMINEES | ||
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By: George Coppolo, Chief Attorney | ||
You asked for questions for someone nominated for the Criminal Justice Commission.
BACKGROUND
Every five years, the Criminal Justice Commission appoints the chief state’s attorney (CGS § 51-278) and two deputy chief state’s attorneys. One assistant is the deputy chief state’s attorney for operations and one is the deputy chief state's attorney for personnel, finance, and administration.
The Criminal Justice Commission designates one deputy chief state’s attorney who, in the absence or disqualification of the chief state’s attorney, exercises the powers and duties of the chief state’s attorney until such chief state’s attorney resumes his duties.
The Criminal Justice Commission appoints a state’s attorney for each judicial district. It also appoints, from candidates recommended by the appropriate state’s attorney, as many assistant state’s attorneys and deputy assistant state’s attorneys on a full-time or part-time basis for each judicial district as the criminal business of the court, may require.
The commission is authorized to remove the chief state’s attorney from office for misconduct, material neglect of duty, or incompetence. It may reprimand, demote, suspend, or remove from office state’s attorneys, assistant state’s attorneys, and deputy assistant state’s attorneys for just cause (CGS § 51-278b).
QUESTIONS FOR NOMINEE
1. What do you think is the most pressing criminal issue in Connecticut today? How is the Division of Criminal Justice dealing with it? What else needs to be done?
2. Many crimes stem from drug or alcohol dependency. When is rehabilitation, rather than incarceration, appropriate? Do you have any proposals for alternatives to prison that focus on rehabilitation? Have past alternative programs been successful?
3. Crimes such as identity theft and child pornography are now committed using the Internet. Are there adequate resources and training to prosecute these crimes? What could be done to improve prosecution of internet-related crimes?
4. With the rise of DNA-testing, there have been some well-publicized accounts of people being wrongfully incarcerated. Should Connecticut implement any additional safeguards against this possibility? What could be done?
5. The chief state’s attorney and deputy chief state’s attorneys must be attorneys who have been admitted to practice for at least three years. What other qualifications would you look for in a chief state’s attorney and deputy chief states attorney?
6. When hiring a person to become a prosecutor, what attributes would you look for, and what evidence would you need to demonstrate to you that a candidate has those attributes?
7. When deciding whether to reappoint a prosecutor, what factors would you look at and what kind of proof or evidence would you need to assure you that the candidate should be reappointed?
8. PA 00-154 created the Commissioner on Racial and Ethics Disparity in the Crimainal Justice system. It produced a report in September of 2004. Among other things, the commission reported that:
• Connecticut ranks the highest in the country in its level of disparity in the rates of incarection of whites, blacks, and hispanics;
• In 2000, the incarcertion rate for African american men was 18 times higher than the rate for non-hispanic white men; and
• One in eleven African American men in Connecticut between the ages of 18 and 64 was in prisonor in jail in 2000.
a. Have you read the report?
b. Do you think a disproportionate number of minorities are prosecuted for crimes? Are sentences for minorities comparable to sentences for non-minorities? Is this a concern? What can be done?
c. What steps should the commission take to make sure that neither racial nor ethnic disrimination occurs in correction with prosecuting criminal defendants.
9. The criminal justice commission is authorized to remove prosecutors from office. Under what circumstances should a prosecutor be removed? When should the commission take other disciplinary actions?
10. How should the commission judge the chief state’s attorney’s performance?
11. Should prosecutors have complete discretion with respect to plea bargains or should there be guidelines?
12. Who does a prosecutor represent when he prosecutes a case?
13. How would you handle a complaint alleging that a prosecutor had a substance abuse problem?
14. Should a prosecutor reveal to the court and jury that a key state witness has a history of racism if racial bias has been raised by the defense as an issue?
15. Should a prosecutor’s private non-criminal conduct or lifestyle ever be the basis for removal from office?
GC: ts