In less sensational but far more important criminal justice news this week, a report released by the Office of Policy and Management's Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division showed depressingly high recidivism rates for males released from prison since 2005: "By the 22nd month following their 2005 releases," the report states, "50 percent of all members of either group [sex offenders and non-sex offenders] had been readmitted to prison for at least one night." Nearly 80 percent were re-arrested following release, and just over half returned to prison with a new sentence. Interestingly, the report highlighted sex offender recidivism rates, and showed that "...sexual recidivism rates for the 746 sex offenders released in 2005 are much lower than what many in the public have been led to expect or believe." The report adds that "...these low re-offense rates appear to contradict conventional wisdom that sex offenders have very high sexual re-offense rates," before challenging public agencies to determine how dangerous specific offenders are to the public.
All of this suggests a criminal justice system that is in desperate need of thoughtful scrutiny from lawmakers and state agencies. If the recidivism rates are so high, what does that say about the purpose of the system? Are we rehabilitating offenders, or simply punishing them? Does a prison sentence create conditions that lead to more prison sentences? How do we really address this vicious cycle that leads so many released offenders back to prison? This isn't just a problem in Connecticut, re-arrest rates are this high all over the country. A national conversation about the purpose and effectiveness of our vast, expensive criminal justice and corrections system, which has given our country the highest incarceration rate in the world, is overdue.
As the NAACP faces an uptick in threatening phone calls and letters, the new FBI agent in charge of civil rights investigations said she's here to help.
Jim Rawlings, president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, started the group's monthly meeting Thursday evening with an announcement that the chapter has received a number of threatening messages in recent weeks. He said he's passed several pieces of hate mail on to local cops and to the FBI for investigation.
Standing behind the counter at Wolf's Wine and Spirits in Bristol, Bruce Wolfert is concerned Gov. Dannel Malloy's proposal to allow the sale of liquor on Sundays will force him to close the store he has owned for the past six years.
"The governor is killing Connecticut," Wolfert said. "He's not talking to us. He's looking at the numbers. He's looking to put all the small shops out of business."
It's called free market. No one is forcing liquor stores to be open on Sunday...
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