{"id":36072,"date":"2023-01-09T23:40:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T23:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=36072"},"modified":"2023-01-09T23:40:32","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T23:40:32","slug":"ct-clean-slate-law-will-be-fully-implemented-in-2023-lamont-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/09\/ct-clean-slate-law-will-be-fully-implemented-in-2023-lamont-says\/","title":{"rendered":"CT &#8216;clean slate&#8217; law will be fully implemented in 2023, Lamont says"},"content":{"rendered":" [ad_1]\r\n<br>\r\n<br><div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n<p>On the eve of the opening of Connecticut\u2019s first recreational marijuana retail shops, Gov. Ned Lamont publicly committed to fully implementing the state\u2019s delayed \u201cclean slate\u201d law within the next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re gonna get clean slate done. We\u2019re gonna get it done as expeditiously as we can,\u201d Lamont said Monday during a news conference at the Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center. The gathering was held to recognize the partial implementation of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2022\/12\/07\/ct-clean-slate-law-criminal-convictions-erased-delay\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the law<\/a>, which erases records for people with certain criminal\u00a0convictions.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \"><aside id=\"bs_multiple_zones-9\" class=\"bs_multiple_zones clearfix\"\/><aside id=\"bs_zones-111\" class=\"bs_zones clearfix\"\/><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI appreciate that they\u2019ve been waiting 10 to 20 years, in many cases,\u201d Lamont said about people still waiting for clean slate\u2019s full application. \u201cAnd this is going to be another six- to 12-month delay in terms of getting all those other felony-style convictions off their record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Lamont\u2019s comments come as retail shops across the state prepare to sell marijuana legally on Tuesday. Simultaneously, approximately 44,000 people with cannabis-related misdemeanor cases have begun getting their records expunged as part of clean slate\u2019s implementation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Signed by the governor in 2021, the law will automatically erase criminal records of people seven years after the date of their conviction for a misdemeanor or 10 years after the date of their conviction <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cga.ct.gov\/2021\/TOB\/S\/PDF\/2021SB-01019-R00-SB.PDF\" rel=\"noopener\">for certain class D, class E or unclassified felonies<\/a> if they have not been convicted of other crimes.<\/p>\n<aside>\t\t\t\t\t<amp-analytics>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/amp-analytics>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\n<p>Any person with convictions prior to Jan. 1, 2000, must <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/cleanslate\/Petition-for-Clean-Slate-Erasure?language=en_US\" rel=\"noopener\">petition the court<\/a> to erase their record.<\/p>\n\n<p>But the Lamont administration <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2022\/12\/07\/ct-clean-slate-law-criminal-convictions-erased-delay\/\" rel=\"noopener\">waited<\/a> until December \u2014 less than a month before full implementation \u2014 to publicly make known that erasures for the majority of the 280,000 people who would benefit from clean slate wouldn\u2019t happen until the second half of 2023, citing outdated technology and outstanding legal and policy questions. The delay mainly <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2022\/12\/07\/ct-clean-slate-law-criminal-convictions-erased-delay\/\" rel=\"noopener\">affects Black residents with felony convictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to do it when we can get it right and make sure they get their very best opportunity,\u201d Lamont said Monday. \u201cThis is a pretty good start today, though, for 44,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \"><aside id=\"bs_zones-105\" class=\"bs_zones clearfix\"\/><\/aside>\n\n<p>Standing near Lamont at the press conference was Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven and co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, who told reporters that if lawmakers have to take up any matters related to clean slate during the legislative session, he remains committed to doing so.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\t\t\t\t\t<amp-analytics>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/amp-analytics>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to get this done, hopefully in a friendly way,\u201d Winfield said. \u201cBut I think, you know, governor, you know who you\u2019re dealing with. If it\u2019s not friendly, we\u2019re gonna get it done. Because it is important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>In response to the governor\u2019s public comments Monday, Dawn Grant-Lockley, who works with <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/weconect.org\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congregations Organized For A New Connecticut<\/a>\u2019s criminal legal reform team, told the CT Mirror that her organization will do whatever it can to push clean slate across the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re glad that the cannabis expungements happened,\u201d Grant-Lockley said. \u201cWe don\u2019t plan on slowing down. We will continue to advocate and speak up to Lamont and Lamont\u2019s team to make sure we get this done sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>The clean slate bill <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2021\/05\/27\/narrowed-clean-slate-bill-wins-final-passage\/\" rel=\"noopener\">progressed<\/a> through the 2021 legislature following pitched battles among lawmakers over which crimes should be eligible for expungement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Those in opposition to early versions of the bill sought a narrow list of eligible crimes, rather than including more serious felonies as the House initially proposed. Lamont especially favored a tapered list of nonviolent crimes and said the list could expand after seeing results from the initial effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \"><aside id=\"bs_multiple_zones-10\" class=\"bs_multiple_zones clearfix\"\/><aside id=\"bs_zones-110\" class=\"bs_zones clearfix\"\/><\/aside>\n\n<p>The governor signed the current bill during the summer of 2021. He doubled down on his support for the law in October while on the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2022\/10\/29\/ct-clean-slate-law-ned-lamont-bob-stefanowski\/\" rel=\"noopener\">gubernatorial campaign trail<\/a> and said the state was working to implement it. But in December, Lamont announced that full implementation of the law was going to be delayed, saying it would instead come in the latter half of 2023.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cImplementation involves significant information technology upgrades to allow criminal justice agencies to send and receive data to determine who can have their offenses erased and to update record systems,\u201d read a press release from Lamont last month. \u201cThe information technology systems involved are complex, and some are outdated. In addition, significant interpretation issues may require <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/-\/media\/Office-of-the-Governor\/News\/2022\/20221206-Clean-Slate-Implementation-Letter.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">clarification<\/a> by the General Assembly this session.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>He did not expand on why the process was prolonged or why the delay was communicated just weeks before the beginning of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>At Monday\u2019s news conference, Marc Pelka, undersecretary for Connecticut\u2019s Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, described the process of implementing clean slate as \u201citerative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cConnecticut has moved very quickly, relative to other states, to implement clean slate,\u201d Pelka said. \u201cIt\u2019s apparent that work is required to get it done along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Clean slate\u2019s supporters have frequently highlighted the need to help people formerly convicted of crimes earn an education, maintain a job and attain housing \u2014 and to not punish them further when they have already faced consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \"><aside id=\"bs_zones-98\" class=\"bs_zones clearfix\"\/><\/aside>\n\n<p>A <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/repository.law.umich.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=3167&amp;context=articles\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> from Michigan, which passed a clean slate law in 2020, found that less than 1% of people who had a violent crime expunged from their records were reconvicted of another violent crime five years after they were cleared.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Advocates have also highlighted how race lies at the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/paperprisons.org\/states\/pdfs\/reports\/The%20Connecticut%20Second%20Chance%20Absolute%20Pardon%20Gap.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">foundation<\/a> of who\u2019s punished and limited in access to basic needs in the state. Connecticut\u2019s Black men have a 48% conviction rate, and both Black women and men are more than three times more likely than their white counterparts to have a felony conviction \u2014 despite accounting for less than 13% of the state population.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Grant-Lockley, who\u2019s formerly incarcerated, said clean slate\u2019s delay exemplifies why people behind bars have minimal trust in Connecticut and its officials.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no belief that the state of Connecticut is for us,\u201d Grant-Lockley said about the mindset of some incarcerated people, and clean slate\u2019s delay \u201csays that we just don\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<section id=\"block-3\" class=\"below-content widget widget_block\"><aside>\t\t\t\t\t<amp-analytics><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/amp-analytics><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\t<\/div>\r\n<br>[ad_2]\r\n<br><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMiSGh0dHBzOi8vY3RtaXJyb3Iub3JnLzIwMjMvMDEvMDkvY3QtY2xlYW4tc2xhdGUtYmlsbC1sYXctbmVkLWxhbW9udC0yMDIzL9IBAA?oc=5\">Source link <\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] On the eve of the opening of Connecticut\u2019s first recreational marijuana retail shops, Gov&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learningtheory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36074,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36072\/revisions\/36074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}