State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

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Connecticut Sentencing Task Force

OVERVIEW OF THE SENTENCING TASK FORCE

The Connecticut Sentencing Task Force was created upon passage of Public Act 06-193. This is an Act concerning Criminal Justice Policy and Planning and the establishment of a Sentencing Task Force.
See the full list of PDF to HTML ConverterSentencing Task Force Members.
By statute, the Research, Analysis & Evaluation unit of the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division provides criminal justice data, analyses, and technical assistance to carry out the task force's duties.
For more information on the Sentencing Task Force see Meeting Agendas/Minutes.
 Book Gavel

MEETINGS AND DELIVERABLES

See the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Calendar for meeting schedules for the full task force and its four subcommittees:

  1. Community Supervision/Alternative Sanctions
  2. Disparity
  3. Offense Classification
  4. Sentencing Structure

Sentencing Task Force Proposed Timeline:

September 2007  Subcommittee Recommendations
Report First Draft Due
 September 2007     Full Task Force Meeting
 November 2007 Full Task Force Meeting
 December 2007 Members comment due on Draft Report
 January 2008 Final Interim Report Presentation to Full Task Force
 January 2008  Interim Report due to the Legislature
SENTENCING TASK FORCE SUBCOMMITTEES

On June 11, 2007, the Sentencing Task Force established the following four (4) subcommittees to address specific areas of interest:

  1. Community Supervision/Alternative Sanctions
    With regard to community supervision, this subcommittee will review the use of probation and parole, including the length of sentences, what types of individuals are being sentenced and any overlap that exists. The use of conditional discharge will be reviewed as well. This committee will also address the issue of alternative sanctions by reviewing the types of programs that are available, searching for overlap in these programs, determining whether these programs are consistent, and looking for program evaluation mechanisms that can determine the effectiveness of these programs.

  2. Disparity
    This subcommittee will review current and proposed sentencing policy to determine its impact on racial, gender and geographic disparity.
  3. Offense Classification
    This subcommittee will review unclassified crimes to determine if it is plausible to classify them.  They will also provide recommendations regarding crimes that are not currently being used for sentencing to prison/jail.  Additionally, this subcommittee will review classified crimes to determine proportionality in sentencing and make recommendations as necessary.
  4. Sentencing Structure
    This subcommittee will determine how sentencing is structured in Connecticut and how we compare with other states. Additionally, this subcommittee will also review the use of mandatory minimum sentences and make recommendations as necessary.
PURPOSE OF SENTENCING TASK FORCE

The primary purpose of the Connecticut Sentencing Task Force is to review criminal justice and sentencing policies and laws of this state for the purpose of creating a more just, effective and efficient system of criminal sentencing.

More specifically, the act directs the Task Force to:

(1) Identify overarching criminal justice and sentencing goals and policies;

(2) Define current sentencing models including sentencing guidelines, criteria, exemptions and enhancements;

(3) Analyze sentencing trends by offense types and offender characteristics;

(4) Review the actual versus intended impact of sentencing policies;

(5) Determine the direct and indirect costs associated with sentencing policies;

(6) Review the fines and terms of imprisonment specified for violations of criminal statutes that are classified or unclassified felonies or misdemeanors and make recommendations including, but not limited to:

(A) whether crimes that are currently unclassified should be classified;

(B) whether certain classified crimes should be reclassified or the penalties for certain unclassified crimes should be revised in order to make the penalties for similar crimes more uniform;

(C) whether the penalty or type of penalty for certain crimes should be revised or eliminated where such penalty or type of penalty is no longer deemed necessary or appropriate or is disproportionate to the severity of the crime; and

(D) whether crimes that are obsolete should be repealed.

(7) Make any recommendations for the revision of criminal justice and sentencing policies as deemed necessary.

Connecticut Sentencing Task Force