Piscopo Op-Ed- Good Behavior Bill for Violent Offenders

Today, a budget bill I opposed but was still approved by the majority of the legislature House would allow all violent criminals except the nine men on death row to shave up to nearly a year off their sentences by obeying correctional regulations.

The provisions of the bill allow inmates in the custody of the Commissioner of Corrections to earn risk reduction credits toward a reduction in a person’s sentence or up to five days per month. The credits would be earned for adherence to the inmate’s offender accountability plan for good conduct and obedience to institutional rules.

The Commissioner of Corrections as a non-elected state official with no accountability to the voters would be yielding great power over who gets these “good time credits.”

The bill also includes a retroactivity provision which could potentially give certain incarcerated persons up to 300 days off their sentences. These incarcerated persons include felons convicted of murder, rape, sexual assault against a minor, arson, armed robbery, home invasion, and burglary.

This terrible piece of legislation shows that Malloy administration is more interested in getting potentially violent felons back on the streets than protecting the public from offenders who might commit new crimes upon release. The bill also includes a provision to let repeat drunk drivers avoid jail time all in the guise of “cost savings.”

The push to get this bill fast tracked through the legislature seemed to be a major way for Governor Malloy to achieve major cost savings to balance his state budget putting policy ahead of Connecticut residents.

Unfortunately, the intent of the bill was mischaracterized by the Democrats in the House of Representatives who initially insisted during debate that most dangerous felons would not qualify for the “risk reduction earned credit’’ program to be run by the corrections commissioner, only to find out they do qualify.

Many amendments were offered by my colleagues and me that would prevent sex offenders and rapists from receiving the credits and earning an early release but they were defeated on a mostly party-line vote.

Ultimately, the bill was passed and now heads to the Governor for his signature, but at what cost to Connecticut? Should dangerous felons get rewarded for just behaving in prison? Bribing criminals not to act up, is an unseemly state policy, Connecticut should not put into practice.