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Governor Malloy Pushes Again For Bail Reform

Prison cells
Courtesy of Pixabay
/
Pixabay

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy introduced bail reform legislation Thursday, saying it could help keep nearly 3,000 people, who are in jail because they can’t post bonds, off the budget rolls. This is a different approach than the one Malloy pushed for last year.

Malloy’s bail reforms never made it up for a vote last year when they were packaged with ‘Second Chance Society’ proposals.

Now that the election year has passed, Malloy has introduced a separate bill for bail reform.

Among other things, the bill says people charged only with misdemeanors would not be set with money bail. That is, unless they have a history of missing court dates. Defendants would also be able to make a cash deposit for 10 percent of the bail set.

The bill aligns with bail reforms suggested recently by the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, a group of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and police.

The Connecticut Mirror reports that defendants who are awaiting trial stay in jail about 100 days. That costs the state about $70 million a year. 

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.