Author: Leblanc, Jeanne

Felony Murder

Posted on by

Felony murder laws—which hold people criminal culpable for deaths they did not directly cause—have long been controversial. Supporters say that such laws are an important tool for deterring risky criminal conduct. Detractors maintain, by contrast, that felony murder laws enable grossly disproportionate punishment. What has largely eluded the debate so far is empirical evidence: how do prosecutors use felony murder laws on the ground? What patterns do we see, in aggregate, in the charging and conviction of felony murder by contrast to other crimes? This project uses Connecticut’s prison population — the roughly 175 people currently serving time for felony murder — as a window into these questions.

Opposing Mandatory Pre-Trial Detention in Connecticut

Posted on by

Opposing Mandatory Pre-Trial Detention in Connecticut

Criminological research is clear: harsh pre-trial detention—whether in the form of cash bail or mandatory confinement—is not an effective tool of community safety. Furthermore, it tends to exacerbate race- and class-based inequality in the criminal justice system. In view of these empirical realities, many jurisdictions, over the last decade, have been moving steadily away from pre-trial detention. Connecticut should as well.

Supporting Fair Commutation Policy in Connecticut

Posted on by

Supporting Fair Commutation Policy in Connecticut

One important ingredient of the effort to curb mass incarceration—in Connecticut and elsewhere—is the use of commutation powers by the executive branch. We applaud Gov. Lamont for taking up this important mantle. At the same time, commutation powers must be used in a fair, even-handed way; otherwise, they stand to imperil, rather than safeguard, the rule of law. In the linked-to letter, we outline several principles that should guide the exercise of executive lenience in the service of decarceration.

School Safety

Posted on by

School Resource Officers (SROs), sworn police stationed in schools, are now commonplace. But does their presence actually increase school safety? Dispute the widespread use of SROs, many believe that the answer is “no,” and that SROs spend much of their time and energy responding to minor disciplinary issues. We seek to test this hypothesis empirically. Through an inter-district study, focused especially on districts that have seen success without SROs, we will examine how how different actors—school administrators, teachers, parents—conceptualize “safety,” and the alternatives that exist for securing that ideal.

Learn more about our JEDI award to study this question.

Policing and Risk Management

Posted on by

Police departments, like most professions, need insurance. One of the most important aspects of insurance is risk management. We seek, accordingly, to understand the connection between risk management and policing as a whole. There seems to be a natural incentive for insurers of police departments to mitigate their exposure to risk by analyzing ways to reduce police misconduct. Liability insurance is one mechanism for this, but there are other mechanisms—and specific actors—in play, including municipal risk pools as well as internal supervision and compliance structures. We seek to pinpoint the barriers that prevent risk pools and private insurers from placing a greater emphasis on police misconduct in their management of risk.

Pay-to-Stay Advocacy

Posted on by

Pay-to-Stay Advocacy

For too long, Connecticut has charged individuals for the cost of their own imprisonment. The Center is proud to be part of a coalition mobilizing for reform—and we’re delighted that the General Assembly is considering a long-overdue bill to repeal the state’s draconian “pay-to-stay” law.

Director Kiel Brennan-Marquez and Student Fellow Mumina Egal submitted testimony supporting the reform bill, and Mumina and other affiliates wrote an Op-Ed on the burdens of pay-to-stay legislation. The Center is also developing a white paper addressing the broader due process issues with pay-to-stay laws.

In April, the Center hosted activist litigants Da’ee McKnight and Fred Hodges on campus. They spent the afternoon with students sharing how they were impacted by Connecticut’s pay-to-stay laws, discussing their activism, and brainstorming future paths to reform. Learn more about Da’ee and Fred’s story in this article.