Rep. Fishbein, Republicans Welcome Judicial Branch Announcement of Faster Arraignments for Some Juvenile Offenders

Calling it another small step forward while cautioning that much more needs to be done, State Representative Craig Fishbein (R-90) and the Connecticut House Republican caucus today applauded the state’s Judicial Branch for administratively implementing a portion of a Republican proposal to provide faster, more efficient arraignments for some underage offenders.

In response to the severe rise in juvenile crime statewide, Republican lawmakers for months have been hosting public juvenile justice forums led by Rep. Fishbein and calling for a special legislative session to address the issue. As Democrats in the legislature cited a slight decrease in some national crime statistics, House Republicans published a set of clearly-defined and detailed proposals to strongly address increased juvenile crime in Connecticut, including expedited processing for juvenile offenders arrested for a felony,  Class A misdemeanor, a charge resulting from loss of life or serious physical injury, or a sexual assault. Unfortunately, so far only a couple of Democrat lawmakers have expressed interest in working with Republicans on the issue.

The changes now being implemented by the Judicial Branch will affect youth with weapon or motor vehicle theft charges only.

“Over the last few months, I have been traveling around the state presenting Republican proposals to address the dramatic increase in crimes committed by juveniles – most especially those involving motor vehicle theft and dangerous weapons,” Rep. Fishbein, Ranking Member of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee said. “While Governor Lamont and legislative Democrats have failed to act, I am glad to see that the Judicial Branch is listening, and is administratively adopting one of our proposals: having next day arraignments of juveniles arrested for certain crimes.”

“While I appreciate this news from the Judicial Branch, it further highlights that the Governor and Democrats in the legislature have done absolutely nothing to address this crisis that requires far more than administrative changes,” House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said.  “Connecticut residents demand and deserve a bold, thoughtful approach to deter the types of crimes they’re seeing, but so far our colleagues seem uninterested in meeting that challenge. I hope we’ll see a plan from them soon, otherwise I fear they’ll nibble around the edges this session with the goal of preserving the juvenile justice system as it exists while simply getting beyond Election Day.”

Earlier this year the Judicial Branch adopted another Republican proposal to allow police officers access to a juvenile’s full arrest record. That change was the result of increased pressure from Republican legislators and public outcry following weeks of negative media reports featuring juvenile car thefts and the death of an innocent New Britain man struck by a juvenile car thief.

“I’m encouraged that some, albeit very incremental, changes are being made by the Judicial Branch but stopping crimes that are being committed by increasingly emboldened juvenile offenders is going to take much more than these few steps,” Rep. Fishbein said.  “Let’s hope the legislature takes the issue seriously before another homeowner is shot at or another innocent person killed.”