CTJA Condemns Gov. Lamont’s Misguided Campaign Forsaking Community Investment for More Police and Locking up Children

BRIDGEPORT, CT (February 7, 2022) - In response to the Lamont administration’s plans to consider re-opening a former youth prison facility the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS), and put more police on the streets, CTJA Executive Director Christina Quaranta has shared the following statement:

“Connecticut has already learned the solution to our state’s issues is not to lock up children and put more police on the streets. These half-baked plans will continue to perpetuate the unjust prosecution of the state’s Black and Brown communities. CJTS was closed for many reasons, one of the most significant being it was not built to care for, support, or heal our young people. Likewise, adding more police to the street rather than investing in communities is a sure-fire way to repeat the mistakes of our past, and once again fail our youth. We ask Gov. Lamont and his team to bring together a group of people and organizations already working to solve community issues to help find solutions. He should not be adding to problems by increasing the harassment and prosecution of our state’s youngest and most in need residents.”

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ABOUT THE CONNECTICUT JUSTICE ALLIANCE

The Connecticut Justice Alliance (CTJA) is a youth/adult partnership working to end the criminalization of youth. The Alliance works to disrupt and dismantle the pathways that funnel children and youth into the juvenile justice system by using organizing, advocacy, and policy tools to protect the rights, futures, and well-being of potentially, currently, and formerly incarcerated youth, while also ensuring youth who are detained, incarcerated, and involved in the courts and legal systems receive safe, fair, and dignified treatment.  

CTJA was formerly known as the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance.