Connecticut Justice Alliance Responds to House Passage of Amended JJPOC Bill (H.B. 6667)

Bridgeport, CT (June 4, 2021) – The Connecticut House voted Thursday to advance a heavily amended JJPOC bill (H.B. 6667), which contains numerous components that would impact the education, decarceration, and treatment of young people in the juvenile system. Most notably, the sections regarding a ban on the use of chemical agents and the automatic erasure of all police and court records pertaining to children under 18 have been removed from the now amended bill.

Christina Quaranta, Executive Director of CTJA, which last week hosted a press conference alongside Judiciary co-chair Representative Steve Stafstrom and JJPOC member Representative Anthony Nolan to call for the passage of a strong JJPOC bill, has shared the following statement:

“I’m deeply disappointed that legislators in Connecticut fought to ensure that the Department of Corrections can continue to use chemical agents on children aged 15- through 17 years old in the supposed care of the state. We need these legislators to fight for our young people, not for practices that harm them.

“We don’t need another study to tell us why we shouldn't be pepper-spraying young people involved in the justice systems. Many of these individuals have backgrounds with histories of abuse and neglect. Subjecting them to the use of chemical agents isn’t only horrible policy, it’s further abuse at the hands of the state.

“Our policymakers must prioritize practices that seek to rehabilitate and support system-involved youth, to repair harm and prevent further justice system involvement.

“The automatic erasure of records for children under 18 is one way for us to begin to break the cycle of detention and incarceration. Its removal from the bill is a deep disappointment that will prevent many young people from being able to end their involvement with the justice systems and build successful lives as they grow into young adults.”