AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SENTENCING COMMISSION.

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 6697

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SENTENCING COMMISSION.

SUMMARY:

This bill creates, within existing budgetary resources, a 26 member Connecticut Sentencing Commission to review the existing criminal sentencing structure and any proposed changes, including existing statutes, proposed legislation, and existing and proposed sentencing policies and practices. It puts the commission within the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) for administrative purposes only.

The bill sets out a guiding principle for the commission's work and the purposes of sentencing, lists specific duties for the commission, and authorizes the commission to access information held by state and municipal agencies.

The bill requires the commission to meet at least once each quarter and at other times the chairperson deems necessary. It must make recommendations to the governor, legislature, and criminal justice agencies and begin submitting annual reports to the governor, legislature, and Supreme Court chief justice by January 15, 2010.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009

MEMBERSHIP

Ex-Officio Members

The bill makes the following officials members of the commission with terms coterminous with their term of office:

1. Board of Pardons and Paroles chairperson;

2. chief public defender;

3. chief state's attorney;

4. correction, mental health and addiction services, and public safety commissioners;

5. OPM Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division undersecretary; and

6. victim advocate.

Legislators Appointed to the Commission

The bill requires the appointment of seven legislators to the commission but does not specify their terms. Table 1 shows the appointing authority and the legislators to be appointed.

Table 1: Legislators Appointed to the Commission

*Appointing Authority*	*Legislative Member of the Commission*
Senate president pro tempore	Majority party senator who serves on the Appropriations Committee
House speaker	Majority party representative who serves on the Judiciary Committee
Senate minority leader	Minority party senator who serves on the Judiciary Committee
House minority leader	Minority party representative who serves on the Appropriations Committee
African-American Affairs Commission	One legislator
Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission	One legislator
Permanent Commission on the Status of Women	One member

Other Appointed Members

The bill requires various authorities to appoint an additional 11 members. Table 2 displays the appointing authority, the criteria for the member to be appointed, and the term for each member.

Table 2: Other Members Appointed to the Commission

*Appointing Authority*	*Member*	*Term*
Supreme Court chief justice	Judge	One year
	Judge	Three years
	Representative of the Judicial Branch's Court Support Services Division	Two years
	Academic	Four years
	Active or retired judge	Four years
Chief State's Attorney	State's attorney	Three years
Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association president	Member of the criminal defense bar	Three years
Connecticut Police Chiefs Association president	Municipal police chief	Two years
Senate president pro tempore and House speaker (joint appointment)	Former inmate or advocate for former inmates	Four years
Governor	Crime victim or victim advocate	Four years
Senate and House minority leaders (joint appointment)	Member of a civil rights organization involved in issues of racial disparity in the criminal justice system	Four years

Reappointments and Vacancies

The bill allows appointed members to be reappointed, and any vacancy is filled by the appointing authority for the unexpired portion of the term.

Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson

The bill makes the active or retired judge appointed by the Supreme Court chief justice the commission's chairperson. The commission elects a vice-chairperson from its members.

GUIDING PRINCIPLE AND PURPOSE OF SENTENCING

The bill sets a general principle that the commission should consider in its work: sentencing's primary purpose is to enhance public safety while holding the offender accountable to the community. In addition, it states that sentencing should:

1. reflect the seriousness of the offense;

2. be proportional to the harm to victims and the community;

3. use the most appropriate sanction available including prison, community punishment, and supervision;

4. have an overriding goal of reducing criminal activity, imposing just punishment, and providing meaningful and effective rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender; and

5. be fair, just, and equitable while promoting respect for the law.

COMMISSION'S DUTIES

The bill requires the commission to:

1. facilitate development and maintenance of a statewide sentencing database in collaboration with existing state and local agencies and, when the database is completed, review criminal justice legislation on request, within resources;

2. evaluate current sentencing statutes, policies, and practices and conduct a cost-benefit analysis;

3. analyze and study sentencing trends and prepare offender profiles;

4. provide training on sentencing and related issues, policies, and practices;

5. act as a sentencing policy resource for the state;

6. preserve judicial discretion and provide for individualized sentencing;

7. evaluate the impact of pre-trial, sentencing diversion, incarceration, and post-release supervision programs;

8. perform fiscal impact analyses on selected proposed criminal justice legislation;

9. identify potential areas of sentencing disparity relevant to racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic status; and

10. make recommendations for criminal justice legislation to the Judiciary Committee, which must hold a hearing on them.

INFORMATION

The bill requires the commission to have access to confidential information received by sentencing courts and the Board of Pardons and Paroles that includes arrest data, criminal history records, medical records, and other non-conviction information.

It requires the commission to obtain full and complete information on state programs, activities, and operations. The bill allows the commission to ask any state or municipal subdivision office, department, board, commission, or agency to provide records, information, and assistance needed or appropriate to carry out the commission's duties. The bill authorizes and directs the officers and employees of those entities to cooperate with the commission and to furnish requested records, information, and assistance.

The bill provides that any record or information given to the commission that is confidential under the statutes, remains confidential while in the commission's custody and cannot be disclosed. Any penalty that applies to the officials, employees, and authorized representatives that give the records to the commission also applies in the same way to the commission's members, staff, and authorized representatives.

The bill makes the commission a “criminal justice agency” for purposes of access to criminal history record information of state agencies and subjects the commission to the same security and privacy provisions as the other criminal justice agencies.

BACKGROUND

Sentencing Task Force

PA 06-193 created a Connecticut Sentencing Task Force to review the state's criminal justice and sentencing policies and laws to create a more just, effective, and efficient system of sentencing. PA 08-143 required the task force to recommend whether to establish a permanent sentencing commission and, if so, the permanent commission's mission, duties, membership, and procedures. The task force's January 7, 2009 report recommended creation of a permanent sentencing commission.

Legislative History

The House referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee, which reported a substitute bill that required the commission to be established within existing budgetary resources.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Judiciary Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute

Yea

Nay

(03/31/2009)

Appropriations Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute

Yea

Nay

(05/11/2009)