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Lamont Closes Connecticut's Only 'Supermax' Prison Early

Prison cells
Courtesy of Pixabay
/
Pixabay

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is closing the Northern Correctional Institution in Somers three weeks earlier than planned.

Lamont said Connecticut has fewer prisoners. He said the population dropped significantly by 3,400 over the past 15 months.

There are now about 9,000 people incarcerated in the state. Down from a high of nearly 20,000 in 2008.

Northern is part of a larger state prison complex at Somers. It opened in 1995. Its highest population was 510 inmates in January 2003. That dropped to less than 100 inmates in the past year.

The remaining inmates have been transferred to other maximum security facilities.

Officials estimate that the closure of Northern would save the state more than $11 million dollars a year in operating costs.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.