Established in 1985 by the General Assembly, the Council serves as a consumer liaison between riders and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and also advises the Legislature regarding commuter issues.

“Metro North is very important to our community and I know John will be diligent in representing the interests of all commuters who depend on the service,” Fox said “Not only does John take the train each day to New York, he has also been very active in the community for many years and that combination of experience is a perfect fit for the Commuter Council.”

Davis is Senior Vice President of Endurance Reinsurance Corporation of America in New York City. Locally he serves as a volunteer board member of the Shippan Point Association and has also coached youth sports.

“As a daily rider myself, I have first hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a rail commuter,” Davis said during a pubic hearing before the Legislature’s Executive & Nominations Committee. “I believe my business and leadership experience along with my exposure to civic activities will allow me to be an asset to the Board.”

The House unanimously passed a bill Monday night that makes it a felony to advertise the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor.

The chamber passed the bill 149-0 after less than 10 minutes of debate.

“In our state and in our cities and towns, we do have an issue with those young people who are being victimized and are being advertised when it comes to escort services,” Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Rep. Gerald Fox said. “What this bill would do is make it clear that such activity is a crime.”

Rep. Gerald Fox III co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Fox said people can currently place ads and sexually exploit young people. The bill makes it a Class C felony — punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 — to either knowingly place such an ad or place one without investigating the age of the individual advertised.

Rep. Jeffrey Berger, D-Waterbury, said the issue comes down to the prostitution of children as young as 13 years old. He said that even raising the bill and holding hearings on it has resulted in many of the ads being pulled.

A previous incarnation of the bill would have made newspaper and magazine publishers guilty of a felony for publishing an ad depicting a minor. That provision was scrapped over concerns that it violated the First Amendment.

The bill will still need to be passed by the Senate before the legislative session ends Wednesday at midnight.

The bill (HB 5512), known as ‘Caylee’s Law’, is in reaction to the death of toddler Caylee Anthony in Florida whose mother did not report her missing for over 30 days.

Fox’s legislation makes it a Class A misdemeanor to knowingly not report a missing child under age 12 within 24 hours. This applies to any parent, guardian or person who has custody or supervision of the child. The crime is punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine up to $2,000.

“When it comes to the safety of child, adults have to be held accountable and the state is responsible for doing that,” said Fox, House Chair of the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. “It is unfortunate that we sometimes end up enacting these types of laws because of a tragedy.”

Under current law, it is a misdemeanor to leave a child under age 12 unsupervised in a motor vehicle or public place. The crime rises to a felony between 8:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m., or if the public place serves alcohol.

Stamford Insurance Group, Inc. (SIG) is investing $100,000 and was awarded a $100,000 matching grant in support of its plans to expand. The agency, entering its third decade, has locations in Stamford, Cheshire, East Windsor and Groton, serving clients both in Connecticut and in surrounding states. Funds will be used for computer and phone systems, staff training, and marketing. SIG is committed to retain 20 jobs under the terms of the grant.

“Stamford Insurance Group has been a respected member of Stamford’s business community for decades and is great fit for our new Small Business Express program,” said Rep. Fox, who serves as House Chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee. “The state is committed to encouraging economic growth through small business assistance and I am happy to see a local company taking advantage of these resources.”

“The jobs bill we passed in October was intended for just this kind of business activity. With the assistance of this matching grant, the Stamford Insurance Group will be able to support 20 jobs to help our economy rebound. This is smart assistance for business, and good policy for putting Connecticut’s workforce back on the job,” added State Senator Carlo Leone (D-Stamford, Darien).

In total, EXP will provide $100 million to help the state’s small businesses hire more employees and fund capital investments. The program, administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), offers loans and matching grants to Connecticut companies with fewer than 50 employees at the time of application.

“The jobs created by retail and service companies are often the product of hardworking and determined self-employed entrepreneurs,” Governor Malloy said. “The Small Business Express Program is proving very responsive to this important sector of our economy, one that has tremendous potential for job growth and retention.”

The legislation (HB 5501) is based on a task force, chaired by former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice David Borden, which recommended that whenever a suspect is among those participating in a photo or live lineup, each participant be presented sequentially so that the eyewitness views only one photograph or one person at a time.

“Eyewitness identification is a critical law enforcement tool, but we have also learned that mistakes made during suspect lineups play a significant role in wrongful convictions,” Fox said. “These standards are aimed at helping to reduce potential mistakes and increase accurate criminal identifications.”

The bill also expands the instructions police officers must give to eyewitnesses in advance of a lineup including that:

• they will be asked to view an array of photographs or a group of people, and that each photograph or person will be presented one at a time;
• it is as important to exclude innocent persons as it is to identify the perpetrator;
• the person in a lineup may not look exactly as he or she did on the date of the offense because features like facial and head hair can change;
• the perpetrator may or may not (current law says only “may”) be in the lineup;
• police will continue to investigate the offense regardless of whether the eyewitness makes an identification.

Current police procedures require, when possible, that the officer conducting a lineup does not know which individual is the suspect, that eyewitnesses must be told they should not feel compelled to make an identification and they should take as much time as needed in making a decision.

A key part of the bill gives police officers new tools for responding to incidents of domestic violence, including a requirement that municipal police departments develop and implement operational guidelines for arrest policies.

“The fight to reduce the incidence of domestic violence is an ongoing challenge,” said Fox, House Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “Enhancing the tools of the legal system, particularly in the area of law enforcement and protective orders, is critical to the ultimate success of these efforts.”

Fox explained victims are often confused about where to report electronic and telephonic violations of restraining and protective orders. The legislation allows victims to report violations where they reside, where they receive the communication or where the communication was initiated.

Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden), who created the task force, said, "When a victim has worked up the courage to call police, to request a restraining order or to leave her home, we want to make sure that services are in place to support them. In addition, because we owe it to victims to train police in best practices so they can respond to calls speedily and appropriately, we give police officers new tools for responding to domestic violence incidents. This bill gives new support to victims, police officers, advocates and other front-line service providers."

The legislation also permits judges to issue restraining orders for up to one year. Currently the maximum length of a restraining order is six months. Fox said this change will reduce stress and risk to victims who will have to return to court and interface with their offenders less frequently.

With increasing numbers of people using texting as their primary way of communicating, the legislation requires the Office of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of developing a 911 texting system.

The bill also requires that courts share protective orders with schools that victims attend, upon request of a victim. Current law requires that orders be shared with the police departments in the town where the victim lives and works and the town where the defendant lives, but it does not require that schools or campus police are notified of an order.

Although threatening is often a precursor to serious violence, threatening with a firearm is currently a misdemeanor in Connecticut. This bill would make threats that involve the use of a firearm a felony crime. It also strengthens the definition of stalking to ensure that stalking incidents—including digital stalking—are appropriately punished.

The task force, of which Fox is a member, has led the effort over the past few years to enact stronger and tougher laws to prevent violence against women and assist victims of domestic violence. Additional information about the task force can be found on its web site at www.housedems.ct.gov/DV.

Fox, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said he backed the legislation on behalf of Shippan area residents in Stamford who contacted him about conditions at the sewage treatment plant on Magee Avenue. Residents’ concerns included the safety of local beaches, the health of shellfish beds and the presence an overpowering odor emitted from the plant.

“People deserve and need to know if there is a breach at a sewage plant,” said Fox. “These incidents can impact health and property, and residents should have notice so they can make appropriate decisions for their families.”

Specifically the legislation requires the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to post information on unanticipated sewage spills on the agency’s website beginning in July of 2014. The online notice will have details on the spill such as the date, time, volume, duration and steps taken to contain it as well as public health or environmental concerns and any public safety precautions that should be taken. In July of 2013, DEEP must begin posting information on anticipated sewer overflows resulting from storm events.

The legislation now goes to Governor Dannel P. Malloy for his consideration.

STAMFORD -- In December 2010, two men burst into a small West Side market. One of them pointed a shotgun at the cashier, and the pair forced two shoppers to lie on the floor. Together, the two men made off with about $1,500 in cash, a milk crate full with cigarettes and a lip balm display.

A little more than a month later, Stamford police investigators had a suspect. The two shoppers identified him through a photographic lineup, and officers wrote up a warrant for the arrest of Terrell West, a 38-year-old Stamford resident. Nine months later, however, West walked out of the Stamford courthouse a free man, his charges dropped.

His defense attorney, Joseph Colarusso, said West maintains his innocence and was wrongly identified in the photo lineup. West served three days at the Bridgeport Correctional Center before Colarusso provided prosecutors with records showing West was a patient at Stamford Hospital during the time of the robbery.

Authorities released West without bail and continued to probe his alibi for several weeks until the prosecutor, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Paul Ferencek, stopped prosecuting the case and withdrew the charges last September. Authorities were skeptical about the alibi but lacked enough evidence to disprove it. That meant too much doubt existed for Ferencek to risk imprisoning an innocent man, so he stopped prosecuting the case.

"This is not a case where we had an iron-clad alibi," Ferencek said this past week.

Depending on whom you ask, West was either an innocent victim of mistaken identification, or a convicted felon with an alibi just strong enough to cause prosecutors to drop his charges. The truth behind West's case, or the two versions of it, lies in the way police departments use eyewitness identification, the only evidence tying West to the scene of the Dec. 6 armed robbery at Stillwater Market.

Last year, state legislators created a 20-member panel to study the practice of eyewitness identification and the science behind claims that human memory isn't as reliable as once thought. After several decades of research cast doubt on the accuracy of inaccurate eyewitness identification and dozens of overturned convictions, many states began to change the way law enforcement agencies conduct live and photographic lineups of potential suspects. Nationwide, the criminal justice system faced a problem: one of the oldest methods of identifying suspects in criminal cases was being proven unreliable.

"If you are going to seek an arrest warrant based solely on eyewitness identification, you are treading on dangerous waters," said Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello, a member of the state's Eyewitness Identification Task Force. "It's not something police want to do."

The Innocence Project, an organization founded in 1992, has helped exonerate 289 convicted criminal defendants using DNA evidence. Mistaken eyewitness identification played a role in more than 75 percent of those wrongful convictions, according to the project. In light of the growing evidence that eyewitness identification was flawed, the nation's criminal justice systems had to find ways to improve the reliability of eyewitness identification. Connecticut began revamping the laws enforcing photographic lineup procedures last year.

In 2011, the state General Assembly passed a law requiring law enforcement agencies adopt a "double blind" procedure when administering a photo lineup with a victim or witness. The statute required that, if practical, neither the witness nor the investigator should know what the suspect looks like.

At the time, proponents of eyewitness identification reform wanted the state to go a step further and introduce the sequential method to photographic lineups, which requires investigators to present photographs of potential suspects one at a time and ask witnesses to make a decision on each photograph before moving to the next one. This method reduces the risk of what researchers call "relative judgment," which is when a witness picks a photograph that looks most like the actual suspect, rather than making a yes-or-no judgement.

However, critics of the sequential method cited conflicting research on whether the simultaneous or sequential method produced more accurate eyewitness identifications.

After its first meeting in September 2011, the task force spent six months studying the use of sequential lineups and the double-blind method. Coinciding with the task force's first meetings was also the release of a two-year field study of the sequential lineup method by the American Judicature Society that determined the double-blind, sequential method reduces the rate of mistaken identifications without affecting the number of accurate suspect matches.

Last month, the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee approved a bill to have the state adopt the recommendations from the Eyewitness Identification Task Force. State Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, chairman of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee and a task force member, said the panel unanimously agreed on the recommendations to move from simultaneous lineups to sequential after hearing from several legal experts, including Gary Wells, an author of the study and expert on eyewitness identification.

"It's used a lot," Fox said of eyewitness identification. "It's often times the evidence that you're going to use to convict somebody, so based upon that, it's very important that we get it right."

Fox said the new procedures won't force judges to throw out eyewitness identifications that weren't conducted using the sequential and double-blind methods, but that it would give defense attorneys a chance to call into question the integrity of the investigation.

"Law enforcement was supportive of this," Fox said. "I believe they are going to work to develop the best practices that include these recommendations."

Senior Assistant State's Attorney Richard Colangelo, a prosecutor at state Superior Court in Stamford, said cases relying solely on a single witness making an identification are rare. Colangelo, a task force member, said he handled only two or three of those cases in his 19 years as a prosecutor. When faced with those situations, prosecutors try to compile corroborating evidence, such as computer or cell phone records. The eyewitness identifications help authorities know they are following the right lead, Colangelo said.

Colangelo said prosecutors began seeing more attacks on eyewitness identification evidence during trials during the past several years.

"From the prosecutor's end, in court, it really removes the argument that the identification procedure doesn't comply with the science," Colangelo said. "It takes away the expert coming in and bashing the way the police did the investigation because we are up to date with the science."

Two years before the task force began studying eyewitness identification, the Darien Police Department had already started to implement double-blind and sequential methods into their investigations. Lovello said a handful of detectives researched the issue, looked up the studies, and talked to him about updating the department's eyewitness identification methods.

The Darien Police Department, located in an affluent suburb of 20,000 people, handles fewer than 20 live or photographic lineups each year. Lovello said the department took to the new procedures with ease.

"We didn't find there was much of a learning curve," Lovello said.

Lovello helped the task force survey the state's police departments about their current eyewitness procedures and their views on switching to the double-blind, sequential model. The results surprised Lovello.

More departments had issues with changing to the double-blind method than switching to a sequential protocol. Lovello said smaller departments were concerned about finding an officer who didn't know what a particular suspect looked like. Lovello recommended giving departments an option to use the "blind" method, or when the officer administering the lineup doesn't know which photograph the suspect is looking at.

Both methods limit the risk for the investigator to unintentionally give off suggestive body language when a witness views the potential suspect's photograph, Lovello said.

Karen Goodrow, the director of the Connecticut Innocence Project, said law enforcement agencies were supportive of determining best practices for eyewitness identifications. Goodrow said she plans to help train state police troopers with the new eyewitness identification guidelines.

"They've been really supportive and I'm not as surprised as some folks are," Goodrow said. "Contrary to popular belief, in my opinion most of the errors are not happening because some police officer can't wait to set up the wrong person. Police want the right person too."

Goodrow said the research shows that human memory "doesn't work like a videotape."

"We are all just human beings, and as human beings we are all fallible," she said.

Colarusso, a former prosecutor turned defense attorney, said the introduction of a weapon or stressful circumstances, such as the armed robbery for which West was blamed, further diminishes the reliability of eyewitness identifications. Most witnesses focus on weapons, rather than people's faces, he said.

"The ability to observe a suspect in an emotionally charged situation, such as a robbery or any type of criminal event that is shocking to the person, that person's ability to observe is clouded by all the other stimuli that come into play," Colarusso said.

Prosecutors and police investigators, however, say West's case wasn't as simple as mistaken eyewitness identification. Ferencek spent several months finding experts to compare dental records from the patient admitted to the hospital under West's name on the same day of the robbery. When one expert determined the records matched West, Ferencek withdrew the charges.

Stamford police Sgt. Anthony Lupinacci said several holes surfaced in West's alibi. At the same time West claimed to be a patient at Stamford Hospital, someone using his signature signed out his son at a day-care center. A day-care center employee told police that West was the only man who could have signed out his son, Lupinacci said. It's possible someone else admitted himself into the hospital under West's name, Lupinacci said.

"He couldn't have been in two places at once," Lupinacci said.

Colarusso said his client was lucky to have a verifiable alibi.

"Had he not been in the hospital, he would still be in jail and might very well have been wrongly convicted," Colarusso said.

“Representative Fox’s support of his community and his accomplishments as a lawmaker and his understanding of the insurance industry have made him a friend of the association and to the insurance-buying public of Connecticut,” said PIACT President Timothy G. Russell.

Rep. Fox was honored by the group at their annual convention and trade show last month. Fox, who serves as House Chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, addressed agents at the convention’s opening dinner.

“These are local small businesses that are part of our communities, and 2011 was a tough year with record claims caused by Hurricane Irene in August and the historic October snow storm,” Fox said. “Insurance remains an important part of Connecticut’s economy and I’m always ready to encourage growth in the industry and improve the services that consumers receive.”

For example, in 2011, Fox backed a new law (HB 6508) hailed by PIACT to improve local underwriting at the agency level by reducing the number of days it takes an insured or their agent to receive a policy history report from an insurance company.

PIACT represents more than 500 independent insurance agents who employ more than 3,000 individuals throughout the state working directly with consumers to meet their personal and business insurance needs.

The Professional Insurance Agents of CT presented its Legislator of the Year award to state Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford) at the groups annual convention.

The bill was passed by the General Assembly’s Environment Committee March 14 and Fox, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said he is pushing it on behalf of Shippan area residents in Stamford who contacted him concerned about conditions at the Sewage treatment plant on Magee Avenue.

“It only makes sense that our residents are informed when areas in their communities are affected by sewage pollution so that they can make appropriate decisions for their families,” Fox said in testimony to the Environment Committee. “To minimize public health consequences, the first line of defense is awareness and knowledge of the sewage pollution.”

Fox said residents’ concerns include the safety of local beaches, the health of shellfish beds and an overpowering odor that regularly emits from the plant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified 25 unreported incidents at the Stamford plant of untreated sewage entering Long Island Sound since 2006, and just last year the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) cited the plant for improper operation.

Specifically the legislation would require DEEP to post information on unanticipated sewage spills on the agency’s website beginning in 2014. DEEP’s online notice would have details on the spill such as the date, time, volume, duration and steps taken to contain it as well as public health or environmental concerns and any public safety precautions that should be taken. In 2013, DEEP must begin posting anticipated sewer overflows during storm events.

Judiciary Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Gerald Fox III (D-Stamford) and Sen. Eric Coleman (D-Bloomfield) along with Justice David Borden, Chair of the Eyewitness Identification Task Force, will host the forum. A full agenda is attached.

Author Jennifer Thompson is the featured speaker and will discuss her book Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption – the story of a man wrongly convicted of rape via police lineup identification and years later exonerated via DNA evidence.

The Task Force is recommending the mandatory use of sequential as opposed to simultaneous live or photo lineups by police departments. The task force report is attached.

WHAT: Forum on Eyewitness Identification/Police Lineups

WHEN/WHERE: Fri. Mar. 16, 9:30 a.m. - LOB Room 2C

“It is critical to support the cultural, artistic and historic preservation organizations so that they can achieve their goals and continue to add to Connecticut’s economic vitality and quality of life,” said Rep. Dan Fox. “I’m pleased DECD included many Stamford groups.”

“The Stamford delegation has worked hard to increase funding in support of our cultural, artistic and historic preservation organizations and I am very happy that these grants have been awarded,” Rep. William Tong (D-Stamford, New Canaan) said.

“Local cultural landmarks and arts institutions essentially serve as a community’s welcome mat,” said Rep. Gerald Fox III. “Support for the arts is a solid investment which helps attract visitors and in turn helps the local economy.”

The seven groups in Stamford who received grants are:

• The Ballet School of Stamford - $822
• Curtain Call - $3,565
• Pro Arte Chamber Singers of CT, Inc. - $614
• Stamford Symphony Orchestra - $11,417
• Stamford Center for the Arts - $8,298
• Stamford Museum and Nature Center - $7,752
• City of Stamford - $150,000

The grant programs were established by the State of Connecticut to stimulate the development of private sector funding and help stabilize arts institutions by establishing programs aimed at providing access through the creation of artistic works and/or targeted outreach to audiences and participants.

The $150,000 grant to the City of Stamford is a one time initiative bringing mural-based public art into downtown spaces. The initiative enhances public spaces through the visual arts and connects urban regions of Connecticut with a statewide place making initiative.

HARTFORD, Conn. - Stamford officials urged the General Assembly on Tuesday to pass legislation requiring smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in all residential buildings, saying such a law could prevent tragedies like the fire that killed a couple and their three granddaughters on Christmas Day.

Rep. Fox testifies before the Public Safety Committee on legislation he is sponsoring that would
require smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in residential dwellings.

Michael Pavia, the mayor of Stamford, said Lomer and Pauline Johnson, their 7-year-old twin granddaughters, Grace and Sarah Badger, and their 9-year-old granddaughter, Lily Badger, did not have enough warning to escape the blaze that enveloped the Victorian home on Long Island Sound where they were spending the holiday.

"This was the most tragic Christmas in the history of the city of Stamford. The three Badger girls and their grandparents were unable to escape the effects of the fire, the heat and the smoke. The family did not have enough warning to exit the building," Pavia told members of the General Assembly's Public Safety and Security Committee. "As time went on and as the fire went unnoticed, the fire grew in intensity and spread. It consumed the entire house before that call for help came."

Madonna Badger, the girls' mother and the Johnsons' daughter, managed to escape. Her friend Michael Borcina, a contractor who had been renovating the $1.7 million house, also survived.

The continuing investigation into the blaze has partially focused on whether smoke detectors were in the house. There were plans for hard-wired smoke alarms, but they had not been hooked up, officials have said. Authorities have said the fire was started by embers in a bag of discarded fireplace ashes.

William Smith, deputy chief of the Stamford Fire and Rescue Department, said he's convinced that the Stamford tragedy would not have happened if the family had received proper warning from a detector.

"I think we would have seen the people in that family standing out on the front lawn," he said.

State Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, said the proposed legislation builds upon a 2005 state law requiring carbon monoxide detectors and warning equipment to be installed in new residential buildings, with the exception of one- and two-family dwellings. Under the new bill, all residential buildings would be required to have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and warning equipment installed, regardless of the number of families living there.

"What it will do is bring additional awareness to the importance of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and it will provide warnings so people can vacate their homes when faced with dangerous situations," he said.

Fox, a chief proponent of the bill, said he's open to making sure the final version of the legislation applies to various types of technology. Lawmakers were urged Tuesday not to limit the language to one specific type of smoke or carbon monoxide detector.

State Rep. Mike Molgano, R-Stamford, said the legislation makes it clear that any residential building occupied by one or more families that holds a certificate of occupancy prior to Oct. 1, 1985, could have a battery-powered smoke detection and warning system.

Besides the Stamford tragedy, proponents of the bill said the legislation could have prevented numerous recent poisonings in Connecticut by carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that can be toxic to humans. At least 10 deaths were blamed on the freak October snowstorm; many of those deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisonings.

The bill awaits action by the Public Safety and Security Committee.

The Judiciary Committee will hear testimony Wednesday on a bill to allow people with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana legally.

The nearly-perennial proposal wasn’t introduced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this year, but lawmakers believe it has a good chance of passing.

“It’s gotten though the committee the last several years,” Judiciary Committee Co-Chairman Gerald Fox III said Friday.

Currently, 16 states and Washington D.C. legalize small amounts of marijuana for patients with debilitating conditions, such as cancer,  HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis.

“One of the other good things is that we’re learning from other states about how to get it right,” Fox said.
He said Connecticut’s bill would not create dispensaries like they have in California, which has recently attracted the attention of the federal government.

A similar bill passed both the House and Senate in 2007, only to be vetoed by former Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

The 2007 legislation would have allowed primary caregivers to purchase marijuana on the street or grow their own marijuana, which was a problem for some lawmakers.

Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, said he has trouble growing his own tomatoes and the 2007 legislation assumed “folks would have a green thumb.” It’s also tough to assume that the marijuana someone could purchase on the street wouldn’t come laced with some other harmful chemical.

Kissel opposed the legislation in 2007, but said Friday that he’s more inclined to support it this year because the draft legislation requires it to be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.

He said he’s much more comfortable with a pharmacist dispensing it and he’s happy the Connecticut Pharmacists Association agreed to do it.

Last year, the Connecticut Pharmacists Association testified that it supported medical marijuana and would be happy to dispense it.

“If we are truly going to ‘legitimize’ the medical use of marijuana then I think we have to treat it like any other ‘medication’,” Margherita Giuilano, executive vice president of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association, testified last year. “There needs to be standards set on growing, quality assurance, labeling, packaging and dosing.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has some role in regulating the pharmacies, so it’s likely that pharmacies would have to dispense marijuana in a separate location within a store. It’s also unlikely the big chain pharmacies would be willing to participate leaving the independent pharmacies, hurt by the state’s recent decision to mandate mail order maintenance drugs for state employees and retirees, could benefit financially from dispensing marijuana.

Even though marijuana will need to be prescribed by a physician, under the legislation it’s not required to be covered by health insurance. The state will also be able to charge the primary caregiver or the patient not more than a $25 registration fee, which along with a prescription will give them the ability to purchase the drug.

Kissel said even though this is a legislative initiative and not something put forth by Malloy, he thinks it has as good a chance as any other legislative initiative.

“I sympathize with those facing these grave instances where marijuana has proved to be a benefit,” he said.

But his colleagues, like Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, will oppose the legislation.

Boucher has been a staunch opponent of legalizing any type of marijuana because she believes it will do more harm than good. She said Monday that even bringing the bill up for debate sends a very mixed message about what this legislature should be dealing with.

She said it wasn’t appropriate to delve into a discussion on marijuana when this is the year of education reform.

Research from other state’s shows that legalizing it even for a small population leads to experimentation by young people, she added.

House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, said as an expulsion officer he’s seen an increase in the number of young people using marijuana. He worries about the legislation the state passed last year which decriminalizes small amounts of the drug and reduces possession to an infraction.

However, Cafero said he doesn’t see a problem with a pharmacist dispensing the drug to those who are ill. But he’s uncertain about how the state plans to get around federal laws governing the Schedule I drug.

John Thomas, a health law professor at the Quinnipiac University School of Law, said he’d like to see the legislation passed, but believes there’s currently a cloud over medical marijuana under the Obama administration.

The Obama administration policy has been difficult to ascertain, Thomas said Monday. Federal prosecutors have cracked down on dispensaries in California this fall and earlier this month a federal judge in Sacramento dismissed a lawsuit filed against the government by the dispensaries and its patients.

“I worry about the DEA’s [Drug Enforcement Administration] actions in the West,” Thomas said.

Last year, Malloy signed into law a bill that decriminalizes small amounts of marijuana, but his bill to legalize medical marijuana didn’t make it through legislature.

This year, Malloy didn’t introduce medical marijuana legislation, but a spokesman said he still supports the idea.

Last year, a Quinnipiac University poll found voters support medical marijuana 79-17.

“There is a near consensus on the medical marijuana law with about 8 in 10 voters supporting it,” Poll Director Doug Schwartz said. “It is rare to see such a level of support for any issue.”

The public hearing on the bill will be held at noon on Wednesday, March 7.

Connecticut's General Assembly alternates between a short session that runs from early February to early May in even-numbered years, and a long session that runs from early January to early June in odd-numbered years. The 2012 legislative session is a short session which means that individual legislators may only introduce proposed bills that relate to budgetary and revenue matters. However, the Judiciary Committee, like other committees has authority to introduce other proposals and we are again planning to tackle a number of difficult issues ranging from our court system to eyewitness identification and domestic violence.

One of the issues that the Judiciary Committee is likely to raise next session is the use of eyewitness identification by law enforcement. Last year the legislature established the Eyewitness Identification Task Force, which is charged with studying issues concerning eyewitness identification in criminal investigations and the use of sequential and simultaneous lineups. The Task Force is chaired by Justice David Borden and includes legislators, prosecutors, public defenders, legal scholars and members of the law enforcement community. Together, we have worked to determine the best practices in our state and around the country in areas of sequential vs. simultaneous lineup methods. We have also heard expert testimony regarding blind and double-blind administration of lineups, instructions to the eyewitnesses and procedures for show-ups, among the many important topics in the growing body of science in eyewitness identification. There has been a tremendous consensus on many of these issues among our task force members and I look forward to the group's recommendations. I anticipate that we will introduce legislation that will increase confidence in our criminal justice system, ensuring that more of those who are guilty are getting caught and, of course, doing what we can to ensure that no innocent people are sent to prison.

Another task force created during the last session deals with law enforcement's response to family violence. This group has been meeting since early fall and is the process of formulating their recommendations to the Judiciary Committee. The Task Force is considering statutory and policy changes in the areas of dual arrests, protective orders and bail bonds. One proposal would allow a victim to file a complaint reporting an alleged violation (through electronic, telephonic, or U.S. mail) of a protective or restraining order not only in the town in which such person resides, but also in the town where the contact is received by the protected party, or where such contact was initiated. The need for better victims' support services and a more effective law enforcement and legal system have only grown in recent years and I believe that our committee will again introduce legislation on domestic violence.

The Judiciary Committee is also likely to consider proposals from the Connecticut Sentencing Commission. The Sentencing Commission was established to review criminal justice and sentencing policies in the state and has been busy developing its recommendation for the 2012 legislative session. One of the proposals comes from the classification working group of the Commission and aims to classify over 750 statutory misdemeanors that are not currently classified under the state's criminal code.

Another issue that our committee may deal with has to do with a recent State Supreme Court decision, Commissioner of Public Safety et al. v. Freedom of Information Commission, which creates an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act for a certain protected class of state and municipal employees. It has been argued that without a legislative remedy to this decision, many public agencies may not be able to comply with the Supreme Court's decision.

One issue that I hope the legislature would address in the 2012 legislative session is the state police crime lab's ability to respond to the backlog of forensic DNA testing. The Crime Lab Working Group was established by Governor Malloy for that purpose and tasked OPM Under-Secretary Mike Lawlor to lead a team of key stakeholders and experts to develop a strategy to tackle the lab's backlog. The issues are complicated, but I am confident that the working group, which includes legislators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, scientists and members of law enforcement, can recommend short-term and long-term solutions to deal with an unprecedented increase in the crime lab's workload in recent years.

Of course, there are many other ideas that are coming to the Judiciary Committee for consideration from legislators, attorneys, advocates and other interested parties. We are only beginning to receive their proposals and even though it is a short session, there will be hundreds of bills to consider. I again look forward to a productive session.

A year and a half after the state Supreme Court ruled that former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz didn't qualify to serve as Connecticut's attorney general, the General Assembly still has not determined exactly what the qualifications are.

State lawmakers couldn't agree in 2011 on what standards a candidate should meet to serve in this powerful post; after a sharply divided House of Representatives approved a bill 91-51 last May to ease the qualifications, the so-called "Bysiewicz bill" never went anywhere in the Senate.

But co-chairman of the legislature's judiciary committee says he will make another attempt in 2012 to pass legislation settling what has turned into a difficult question. The legislative session runs from Feb. 8 to
May 9.

"I'd like to do it again," said Rep. Gerald M. Fox III, D-Stamford, a lawyer and co-chairman of the judiciary panel.

Fox noted in a recent interview that the next state election, in which the attorney general's post will again be contested, is in November 2014. "It's an issue that's best resolved when we're not approaching an election,"

Fox said, because that way there would be no potential candidates who might feel that any newly imposed restrictions could be unfair to them.

Still, the obstacle that Fox and like-minded legislators face is the same one that robbed last year's bill of its momentum: Republican critics say that any bill patterned after last year's would oversimplify the requirements to the point where they don't mean anything.

The only thing that last year's unsuccessful bill said was that a person must be registered as an attorney in Connecticut for 10 continuous years before running for attorney general.

"That means that just about anybody could take the bar exam, register as an attorney" and run for attorney general after 10 years "even if they'd never practiced law. It really is a very, very low standard," said Rep. Arthur O'Neill of Southbury, the longest-serving Republican on the judiciary panel.

"I think it's good that we have a second chance to give this thing some serious consideration,' O'Neill said. "I think there was a little bit of a rush last year to respond to the [2010] Supreme Court decision in the Bysiewicz case, and to try to do something quickly."

In that 2010 court case, Bysiewicz, the favorite to win the Democratic attorney general's nomination, sought a judge's ruling to clear up doubts that had arisen about her legal experience.

A state law dating to 1897 requires that a person have at least 10 years of experience in the "active practice" of law in Connecticut to qualify as state attorney general, and Bysiewicz hadn't logged enough years in private legal practice to satisfy that. She had never tried a case as a lawyer in court.

Still, she got a Superior Court judge to say she was qualified on the basis that she could count at least some of her 12 years as secretary of the state (an office in charge of state elections and corporate registrations, for which you don't need to be an attorney) toward that 10-year "active practice" standard.

However, the state's high court quickly reversed that when the state Republican Party appealed, interpreting the vague term "active practice" to mean "at least some experience litigating cases in court."

In effect, the Supreme Court said in its unanimous ruling that there's no clear-cut set of standards for service as attorney general, but that Bysiewicz was unqualified.

Democrat George Jepsen went on to win the election; he is widely expected to seek re-election in 2014. Bysiewicz is now seeking her party's U.S. Senate nomination for the November election.

Some said the court went too far by requiring that the attorney general have experience in trying lawsuits. One rationale for last year's bill was that the requirement that lawyers litigate lawsuits in court would disqualify lots of experienced lawyers — such as in-house corporate lawyers, law professors, and real-estate practitioners who don't often or ever try cases in court.

"There are a number of good attorneys who don't go to court, and they should not be precluded from seeking the position of attorney general," Fox said.

Fox said the beauty of a simplified bill is that it lets voters make the subjective decisions about whether a candidate has the qualifications and legal experience to serve in the powerful post as Connecticut's top non-criminal attorney, in charge of a staff of about 200 lawyers.

The easiest way to clear up vague standards is to pare them down to the simplest form — and that's what the Connecticut Bar Association proposed in last year's bill.

"The bar association wanted to keep it simple, plain, and clean," O'Neill recalled. "It was a bright-line rule that was easy for everybody to understand and would be easy to verify" — either you maintained a law license in Connecticut for 10 straight years, or you didn't. "It was not something that would have been easily open to legal challenge."

O'Neill, who briefly expressed interest in running for attorney general last time around, said he agrees that the vagueness of the "active practice" standard should be clarified, "but I don't know that it has to be as simple as what the bar association wanted" in last year's bill.

O'Neill said that it's worth looking at a concurring opinion that was written in the Bysiewicz case by two of the seven Supreme Court justices. They said although they agreed with the other members of the court, the issue didn't need to be decided on the basis of whether "active practice" required litigation experience. It was enough, they said, to find that the active practice of law required a lawyer to represent clients in legal matters — whether in court or outside of it, such as a real estate transaction — under professional standards of conduct and confidentiality.

"I don't have the magic language," O'Neill said, but "I think we could fashion a definition of what it takes to be attorney general that allows more people than are full-time litigators to run."

There could be a requirement, for example, that a person show that he or she earned a livelihood by being a lawyer. Such a requirement would deny eligibility to a person who held a law license but failed to practice law, and it would confer eligibility on an experienced professor of law who doesn't ever try cases in a courtroom, he said.

O'Neill acknowledged that some people might ask why specific standards are needed for the attorney general when there is no requirement that the state treasurer be proficient at arithmetic. He said the answer, in his opinion, is that the attorney general's office is a potent combination of "complex decision-making and ... enormous discretion" in pursuing and settling lawsuits and other legal matters on behalf of citizens.

Says Fox, the judiciary committee co-chairman: "I am thinking of reaching out to some of the people in January to see if they have any ideas. I am willing to listen." He said perhaps "people can come up with something that can reduce the possibility of going to court with nominees" but still isn't overly restrictive.

Lottery prizes of $5,000 or more from tickets redeemed after December 30, 2011 are affected. With about $400 million in state taxes currently delinquent, Fox said the law will serve as an avenue to garner uncollected past due revenue.

“If someone is lucky enough to win a lottery prize and they also owe back taxes it is reasonable to collect those taxes at that time,” said Fox, who serves as House Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “This is not just about revenue owed the state, but also about fairness and improving confidence in our tax system.”

Fox noted that the lottery has received added attention recently when a $254 million Powerball jackpot was won from a ticket purchased in Stamford. “With this new law, winners will need to be accurately identified and up to date on their taxes before collecting their prize,” he said.

Fox said Stamford resident Anthony Martino suggested the idea and testified at a public hearing on the bill before the legislature’s Public Safety Committee earlier this year. “Winners are checked against a database of obligors owing child support, so I suggested the state could apply the same process to those owing delinquent taxes,” Martino testified.

The lottery child support collection program, begun in 2004, has brought in about $1.5 million in delinquent payments.

The new law requires all repeat DUI offenders to have ignition interlocks installed in their automobiles once the automatic drivers’ license suspension period ends. Many states, with support from MADD, are moving towards shorter suspension periods, followed by lengthy, mandatory ignition interlock device (IID) periods.

State Representative Gerald Fox III speaks at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving annual Community Champions dinner. Fox, House Chair of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, was recognized with MADD's Public Policy Award for his work in strengthening Connecticut's drunk driving laws by requiring mandatory ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders. Fox was joined by fellow honoree Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden).

“Research shows that license suspensions do little to reduce repeat drunk driving because most offenders drive anyway,” said Fox, House Chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. “Mandatory ignition interlocks will save more lives than anything we have done to address drunk driving to date.”

An IID is an electronic breathalyzer connected to the ignition of a vehicle that measures breath alcohol concentration and prevents a driver from starting the vehicle if the driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) exceeds .08 percent. A random retest is intermittently required while the car is in operation.

“This is a real win for public safety and reducing drunk driving,” said MADD Connecticut Executive Director Janice Heggie Margolis. “It allows people to to continue doing what they need to do, whether it is going to work, taking their children to school or getting their groceries - but they just can't do it drinking and driving.”

Connecticut already utilizes the technology, though it is only mandatory for a very small number of the most chronic offenders. Only about 450 offenders are in the program today, while there are 3,000-4,000 repeat offenders every year. Numerous studies on IID use for repeat offenders show a reduction of recidivism between 50-95 percent.

In 2009, 44 percent of all traffic fatalities in the state were alcohol related, ranking Connecticut as the nation’s second worst offender. IID use in New Mexico has resulted in a 38% reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities and in Arizona, a 33% reduction.

Dr. Gary Wells, of Iowa State University, made a presentation to a new state task force charged with developing recommended guidelines for police departments on how eyewitnesses identify suspected criminals in lineups and how that testimony is used in a trial.

“Eyewitness identification is a critical law enforcement tool, but we have also learned that mistakes made during suspect lineups play a significant role in wrongful convictions,” Fox said. “Dr. Wells’ research will be very helpful as we work toward developing standards that will both reduce potential mistakes and increase accurate criminal identifications.”

Chaired by former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice David Borden, the task force is specifically examining: (1) The science of sequential methods of conducting a live lineup and a photo lineup, (2) the use of sequential lineups in other states, and (3) the practical implications of a state law mandating sequential lineups. Recommendations due to the Judiciary Committee by April 1, 2012.

A link to Dr. Wells’ recent eyewitness identification study may be found at:

http://www.ajs.org/wc/pdfs/EWID_PrintFriendly.pdf

Judiciary Committee House Chair Gerald Fox III (right) of Stamford talks to media with nationally renowned eyewitness identification expert Dr. Gary Wells of Iowa State University following Wells’ presentation to a state task force that is developing recommended guidelines for police departments regarding suspect identification through lineups.

According to the CCADV, Rep. Fox is being honored for “outstanding achievements toward assisting victims of domestic violence.” He was singled out for his work on the Speaker’s Task Force on Domestic Violence. Over the past two years, the task force is responsible for strengthening Connecticut laws to help victims.

Fox introduced this year’s law, which took effect October 1, on the floor of the House of Representatives during the 2011 legislative session.

“Stemming domestic violence along with protecting and supporting victims is an ongoing challenge,” said Rep. Fox, House Chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, noting 30 percent of criminal court dockets involve domestic violence. “This year much of our focus was on improving law enforcement and victim services.”

Provisions in the new law aimed at combating domestic violence include:

• Increasing access to restraining and protective orders
• Strengthening regulatory authority over bail bond agents and addressing “undercutting”
• Maintaining funding for 24/7 staffing at the state’s domestic violence emergency shelters
• Improving information sharing between state agencies
• Allowing victims who have experienced a pattern of threatening or stalking to request a restraining order and clarifies that people of any age, including teens, can request a restraining order to protect them from a partner who has subjected them to abuse
• Requiring offenders to surrender their firearms to police or sell them to a federally-licensed firearms dealer if the offender is barred from possessing them due to a restraining or protective order
• Providing restitution to the families of victims of domestic violence like that provided to families of other crime victims
• Fixing a contradiction in the statutes that exempts people in dating relationships from arrest when a domestic violence crime is alleged to have been committed, so that police have clear authority to make such arrests.

The legislation (HB 6489) requires people arrested for any of 39 serious felony offenses to provide a DNA sample before they are released from custody if they had previously been convicted of a felony. Additionally, the information gathered will be added to a federal DNA database.

“The effective use of DNA in law enforcement continues to grow and prove itself as reliable evidence,” said Fox. “Someone who commits a felony is more likely to have committed a previous crime so matching against an up to date DNA database can help solve unsolved cases.”

The legislation is modeled after “Katie’s Law”, in memory of Katie Sepich, a 22-year-old graduate student at New Mexico State University, who was brutally raped, strangled to death, set on fire and abandoned at a dumpsite near her home in August of 2003. In Katie’s case, after three years, the New Mexico DNA database matched the unknown profile of her perpetrator, who had been convicted of several other crimes.

“When I heard testimony from Katie’s mother and her efforts across the nation in bringing this issue to state legislatures’ for action, I committed to help,” said State Rep. Ernest Hewett (D-New London), who helped champion passage of the bill. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this law will assist law enforcement in resolving crimes quicker and preventing repeat offenders from causing more pain to families.”

Stamford resident Anthony Martino (left) joins State Rep. Gerald Fox III and Governor Malloy at the State Capitol as legislation suggested by Martino to Fox that will deduct back taxes from lottery winners was signed into law by the governor.

The new law applies to winning lottery tickets redeemed on or after January 1, 2012. There is currently about $400 million in state tax delinquencies eligible for collection and Fox said the legislation will serve as an avenue to garner revenue that is past due.

“It makes sense that someone who owes back taxes to the state should pay those taxes if they are lucky enough to win a lottery,” said Fox, who serves as House Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “This will not only raise needed revenue for the state, but will help create greater confidence and fairness in our tax system.”

Current state statute already requires the Connecticut Lottery Corp. to check winning tickets valued at $5,000 or more against a list of individuals delinquent on child support payments. The lottery child support collection program, begun in 2004, has brought in about $1.5 million in delinquent payments.

Fox said Stamford resident Anthony Martino suggested the idea and testified at a public hearing on the bill before the legislature’s Public Safety Committee.

“Winners are checked against a database of obligors owing child support, so I suggested the state could apply the same process to those owing delinquent taxes,” Martino testified in February. “The concept could be further extended to casino winnings.”

The new law (Public Act 11-152) was recommended by the Speaker’s Task Force on Domestic Violence created by Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden) in 2009 and led by State Representative Mae Flexer (Killingly, Plainfield, Sterling). The task force held a series of meetings and public hearings over the past year to find ways the state could augment domestic violence reforms enacted last year.

“Stemming domestic violence is an ongoing challenge and protecting victims during each step of the judicial process is a critical component,” said Rep. Fox, a member of the Domestic Violence Task Force, noting 30 percent of criminal court dockets involve domestic violence. “This year we focused on improving law enforcement and victim services, such as reducing the number of offenders that get quickly released on bond before a cooling off period.”

The law expands the ability of victims who have experienced a pattern of threatening or stalking to request a restraining order, and clarifies that people of any age, including teens, can request a restraining order to protect them from a partner who has subjected them to abuse.

It also fixes a contradiction in state law that currently exempts people in dating relationships from arrest when a domestic violence crime is committed, so that police have clear authority to make such arrests.

The task force heard concerns about a lack of timely response from law enforcement to restraining order violations. To improve response time, courts will be authorized to issue a standing post-trial criminal protective order for certain offenses against children, which will promote more timely and lawful arrests of those in violation.

The new law will also improve access to domestic violence services by requiring police officers to provide victims with information about their regional domestic violence program so they can obtain trauma-informed counseling and other emergency services.

It also will allow families of victims of domestic violence to receive restitution like that provided to families of other crime victims. It also requires offenders to surrender their firearms to police or sell them to a federally-licensed firearms dealer if the offender is barred from possessing them due to a restraining or protective order.

The law requires judicial branch staff to disclose to the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) information indicating if a defendant poses a threat to a child. It also permits judicial branch family relations counselors to disclose information about a defendant to pretrial programs to ensure they provide appropriate services and to adult probation officers to ensure appropriate sentencing.

This is the second new law enacted to address domestic violence issues this year. Beginning October 1, bail bond agents will be required to charge the full premium and stop the practice of “undercutting.” Undercutting occurs when bail bond agents compete for business by discounting the premium due on a bond and do not charge their clients the statutorily required amount. As a result, defendants post bond at rates lower than what the state requires and are quickly released back into the community, sometimes without any “cooling off” period.

The Task Force was also responsible for introducing and leading passage of a three-part package of reforms during the 2010 session that led to the most sweeping changes to the state’s domestic violence statutes in almost 25 years. Additional information about the task force can be found on its web site at: www.housedems.ct.gov/DV.

The bipartisan committee is CSG’s primary policy making body with an agenda that focuses on federal – state relations and issues impacting states’ rights. Members are comprised of state officials from all branches of government.

“As a state we must be prepared to react to any changes in national policy when they occur,” Fox said. “Working with officials from states with similar interests will help me better represent my home state of Connecticut.”

Rep. Fox is serving his fourth term in the Legislature representing the 146th Assembly District in Stamford. In addition to chairing the Judiciary Committee, he is also a member of the Transportation and Government Administration & Elections Committees.

Established in 1933, the Council of State Governments is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides information, research, and training to state officials in all 50 states to promote region-wide initiatives, facilitate inter-branch cooperation, advocate on state-federal issues, and educate policymakers and the public on regional priorities.

STAMFORD -- A flurry of criminal justice bills was passed during the recently concluded legislative session that will affect the way police and prosecutors conduct investigations.

Decriminalizing the possession of less than a half ounce of marijuana gained the most attention among the collection of bills, overshadowing measures to expand the DNA databank of convicted felons and force police to videotape confessions of the most serious crimes. The General Assembly also created a task force to research the reliability of eyewitness identification methods.

"Those are issues that will only go to strengthen the quality of our criminal justice system and provide increased certainty of convictions," said State Rep. Gerald Fox III, of Stamford, a co-chair of the Judiciary Committee in the General Assembly.

Coupled with the lesser-known bills, however, a top police official said the Democratic-controlled state House and Senate pushed the state's criminal justice system into the liberal end of the political spectrum with the collection of new laws.

"Things took a turn to the left a little bit," said West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci, the legislative chairman of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. "There is a lot of consideration for drug offenders, and more restrictions on police."

Expanding the DNA databank

The General Assembly passed a watered-down version of this bill on the last day the legislative session. When it was introduced, the bill called for expanding the state's DNA databank to include people arrested for certain felony offenses, asking for police departments to take their DNA samples during the arrest process before releasing them from custody, similar to taking fingerprints.

The bill that ended up passing requires law enforcement agencies to take DNA samples from convicted felons whose genetic profiles are not already in the state DNA databank. Connecticut's databank of DNA profiles was created in 1993, when only those convicted of certain sexual assault offenses were included. In 2003, criminal defendants convicted of felonies were mandated to submit DNA samples. The bill goes into effect Oct. 1.

Fox said state lawmakers reached a compromise because some expressed concerns over the distinction between an arrest versus a conviction. Opponents of the first bill, including the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, criticized the bill for violating constitutional rights of criminal defendants whose guilt or innocence have not yet been decided.

"The final bill was a compromise," Fox said. "It was something that other states have done and had success with. We're trying to move our criminal justice laws along with the science of DNA."

Law enforcement agencies supported the initial bill, but some cautioned against the high cost associated with such a large expansion of the DNA databank at the state's forensics lab, especially with budget reductions looming.

Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane, the state's top prosecutor, said he was worried the forensic lab lacked the resources to handle the potential influx of DNA samples since it is already working to reduce a backlog. Kane supported the DNA databank expansion along with the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association.

"Anything that expands the databank certainly allows us to determine the truth in cases, and hopefully to convict the guilty and not convict the innocent," Kane said.

Videotaped confessions

Spending years in legislative limbo, this bill got through the state Senate with a 25-11 vote nearly 20 minutes before midnight on June 8, the last day of the legislative session.

Once signed into law, the measure requires law enforcement agencies to electronically or digitally record any statements made during interrogations on investigations relating to the most serious felonies, such as capital murder and other offenses.

Except under special conditions, only videotaped confessions will be admissible as evidence in court cases for the most serious offenses. The bill does provide leeway for law enforcement agencies, allowing them to refrain from recording statements when it is not "feasible," among other exceptions.

The new law goes into effect in 2014, giving law enforcement agencies two years to secure recording equipment and receive training. Kane called it a "workable" bill.

"It's like photographing a crime scene," Kane said of recording suspect statements. "It captures details that people may not think are significant at the time."

Support for the bill came from both sides of the courtroom. Eugene Riccio, a veteran defense attorney in Bridgeport, said videotaped confessions allow the courts to make an objective determination as to whether statements are voluntary.

"We're way past the `rubber-hose' stage, but there can be other ways of subtly coercing confessions," Riccio said.

Eyewitness identification

This bill, which the state Senate passed with a 36-0 vote, establishes tighter rules for eyewitness identification techniques involving photo lineups, and it also creates a statewide task force to study the use of eyewitness identification in criminal investigations. According to a report from the General Assembly, the Connecticut chapter of the Innocence Project claims that faulty eyewitness identification is the most frequent cause behind wrongful convictions.

The guidelines on photo lineups call for a "double-blind" system in which the law enforcement agent administering the photo lineup does not know what the suspect looks like, when practicable. That rule goes into effect this October.

The law sets up a task force comprised of several state criminal justice officials, elected officials, attorneys, law enforcement officials and members of the public. The panel is tasked with researching the scientific findings on the reliability of eyewitness identification and the use of live and photo suspect lineups. The law asks that the task force reports its findings before the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 1, 2012.

"We're OK what that," Strillacci said. "We're happy with best practices. We just don't want the legislature saying you do it this way and the science not being there."

For years, Connecticut criminal defense attorneys have been campaigning for a law that would require police to record all interrogations of suspects, a measure many attorneys believe would reduce the number of coerced confessions. This year, lawmakers got the picture. The recording bill was one of many measures approved by state lawmakers in the just-finished legislative session that will affect the legal community.

Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane was a strong advocate for the bill. There was growing sentiment that, with the passage of such a law, prosecutors wouldn't have to contend with defense lawyers at trial questioning police interrogation tactics. The legislation will require audio and video recordings of statements made during police interrogations at a detention facility when an individual is accused of a capital felony or class A or B felony. All other statements to police would be considered inadmissible except in certain circumstances, such as a voluntary confession made in the back of a police car.

In response to the concerns by local police departments that time is needed to purchase equipment and train personnel on procedures, the law will not go into effect until 2014.

"In order to get it done, that was a first compromise," said Judiciary Committee co-chair, Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford. "The one concern that people had is that we don't want to lose confessions if they're done improperly. So we want to make sure everyone's on board with what's required of them."

WITNESS IDENTIFICATION

Several high-profile measures of concern to the legal community stalled in the General Assembly. Lawmakers didn't repeal the death penalty, change the standards of eligibility for candidates for state Attorney General, or reform the habeas corpus process to prevent frivolous challenges by inmates. They did, however, vote to require DNA testing of all persons with felony convictions who are re-arrested on one of 39 serious felony charges.

Another longstanding issue among members of the criminal defense bar has been the procedures used for eyewitness identifications of criminal suspects. Since James Tillman was exonerated by DNA testing in 2006 after spending 18 years behind bars for rape, momentum has built for some type of law that changes the way police handle lineups for suspects.

In the first of several expected changes, the legislature passed a bill that will require the double blind procedure in police photo lineups. That is, the police officer who presents photos to a crime victim must be someone who doesn't know who the prime suspect is.

Future reforms, such as those that would change the protocols for in-person lineups of suspects, will be studied by a new committee that includes retired state Supreme Court Justice David Borden, said Fox. That group will also include police, state's attorneys and representatives of the Public Defender's Office. It will report back to the Judiciary Committee next year.

"The testimony we received over the years is that the science is getting clearer that eyewitness ID can be faulty at times and we want to use the best procedures as possible," said Fox. "There seems to be a real willingness to try to do something. I would hope by next session we can implement further reforms."

Another bill passed this session would give the state Correction Department the option of letting repeat DUI offenders serve their sentences at home, with electronic surveillance and an ignition lock device on their vehicles, instead of behind bars.

The measure was strongly supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which cited statistics that show offenders who go to jail and don't get alcohol treatment are more likely to re-offend.

The law would not apply to offenders charged with killing or injuring someone.

The DUI bill was part of a larger measure that will allow more inmates to get out of prison earlier. Inmates who participate in certain programs -- including drug treatment, anger management, or GED studies -- would earn credits that could reduce their prison sentence up to five days per month.

DECRIMINALIZING POT

In the final days of the session, lawmakers also passed a law de-criminalizing possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana. Previously, people arrested for that offense faced a misdemeanor drug possession charge.

The matter was hotly debated, with many Republicans voting against it. O'Neill said their main concern is that it now appears the state is more lenient with those who possess marijuana, an otherwise illegal drug, than it is with those who commit offenses related to alcohol, which is a legal substance.

Continuing where it left off last year, the legislature approved more domestic violence reforms, at the suggestion of a task force on a subject that has been meeting for more than a year.

The new law will extend domestic violence laws to those in dating relationships. It also draws stricter limits on just who can participate in a pre-trial family violence education program; those who complete the program normally have their criminal charges dismissed.

Additionally, the measure requires the establishment of new domestic violence dockets in additional courts throughout the state. And it mandates that family violence offenders who use or threaten to use physical force must surrender any firearms they possess to the public safety commissioner.

STAMFORD -- Convicted drunk drivers will get back on the road sooner but be required to equip their cars with online Breathalyzers to test their sobriety before they start their ignitions under a measure passed by both houses of the General Assembly last week.

"This is a major shift of philosophy from using suspensions to trying to make sure drivers are trained to change their behavior," State Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, chairman of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee said.

Under the proposal which would take effect in January if signed into law by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. First-time offenders would be required to install "ignition interlock" devices for a year, and second-time offenders for three years.

The proposal also would cut both the minimum license suspension of one year for first-time offenders and three year suspension for second-time offenders to 45 days. It is part of a larger bill proposed by Malloy which includes a variety of criminal justice reforms including an early release program for inmates.

The bill passed the state House by a vote of 90-56 last Tuesday, and the Senate by a vote of 21-14.
Janice Heggie Margolis, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said the devices keep drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel while giving offenders significant relief from the economic hardship usually caused by a lengthier suspension.

A study by her group found that 50 to 70 percent of those convicted of drunken driving continue to drive without a license.

"This is a real win for public safety and reducing drunk driving," Margolis said. "The bottom line is it allows people to continue doing what they need to do, whether it is going to work, taking their children to soccer, getting their groceries, but they just can't do it drinking and driving."

The devices, which will be installed by private firms and monitored by the state's Department of Probation cost about $100 a month, said Mike Lawlor, the governor's criminal justice secretary.

The on-board Breathalyzers prompt drivers to blow into a tube for five seconds, preventing the car from starting if it registers a blood alcohol level higher than that designated by the machine. Periodically, the device will prompt the driver for a new sample during a trip to verify they are not consuming alcohol.

The law stops short of imposing the devices on the cars of those participating in the state's pre-trial education program, a one-time program often granted to first offenders, though Heggie-Margolis and Fox said expanding to include those offenders in the ignition interlock program is a goal for future sessions.

"This is already a large and very significant step but the plan would be to ultimately include them," Fox said. "It would be too much to add those people now."

In downtown Stamford early Wednesday evening, Earl Ferris, of Stamford, was dining at Tigin Restaurant on Bedford Steet. He said he was in favor of requiring the devices on everyone who is convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.

"It just means they have to blow into the tube before they start the car," Ferris said. "It doesn't sound like a huge deal."

Earlier this year, a Stamford High School student was left passed out on school property without anyone calling 911 or seeking assistance.

Fox led the floor debate in the House and said the state should help make people less reluctant to help in emergencies.

“No one knows whether this near tragic situation would have been averted if there had been an immunity law at the time, but it does create a stark reminder that saving a life should be the number one priority,” said Fox, who chairs the legislature’s Judiciary Committee. “We should encourage people to help others in danger and this bill acknowledges that fear of incriminating yourself can be an obstacle to acting.”

Though they expressed some concern at a Judiciary Committee public hearing in March, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association supported the bill. Immunity from a possession of drug paraphernalia charge is also included the legislation.

The bill (HB6629) strengthens access to restraining and protective orders, improves information sharing between state agencies, facilitates victims’ access to services, provides law enforcement with better tools to protect communities, and requires the judicial branch to recommend long term solutions.

The legislation was recommended by the Speaker’s Task Force on Domestic Violence, which held a series of meetings over the past year to hear from domestic violence advocacy groups, survivors, law enforcement professionals including prosecutors and judges, about ways the state could augment domestic violence reforms enacted last year.

“Reducing the incidence of domestic violence is an ongoing challenge,” said Fox, who serves as House Chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee and member of the Domestic Violence Task Force. “We are building upon the great progress accomplished last year with a focus on improving both law enforcement and victim services.”

The legislation expands the ability of victims who have experienced a pattern of threatening or stalking to request a restraining order, and clarifies that people of any age, including teens, can request a restraining order. To improve response time to restraining order violations, courts will be authorized to issue a standing post-trial criminal protective order for certain offenses against children.

This legislation will improve access to domestic violence services by requiring police officers to provide victims with information about their regional domestic violence program so they can obtain trauma-informed counseling and other emergency services. It also creates a task force charged with developing a statewide law enforcement model policy that articulates best practices for police when responding to incidents of domestic violence, including a thorough examination of the state's “dual arrest” policy.

The bill will allow families of victims of domestic violence to receive restitution like that provided to families of other crime victims. It also requires offenders to surrender their firearms to police or sell them to a federally-licensed firearms dealer if the offender is barred from possessing them due to a restraining or protective order.

Today’s bill also requires judicial branch staff to disclose to the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) information indicating if a defendant poses a threat to a child. It also permits judicial branch family relations counselors to disclose information about a defendant to pretrial programs to ensure they provide appropriate services and to adult probation officers to ensure appropriate sentencing.

This is the second bill passed by the legislature to address domestic violence issues this year. Last week the legislature approved a bill requiring bail bond agents to charge the full premium and stop the practice of undercutting. Undercutting occurs when bail bond agents compete for business by illegally discounting the premium due on a bond and do not charge their clients the statutorily required amount. As a result, defendants post bond at rates lower than what the state requires and are quickly released back into the community.

“With better enforcement of our bail bond laws, particularly ensuring minimum premiums are charged by bondsmen, we will reduce the number of offenders that get quickly released before a cooling off period,” Fox said.

Fox noted that domestic violence issues have taken center stage at the legislature this year. “Not only is this the second bill passed this year addressing domestic violence issues, but the state budget approved a few weeks ago also included funding that will allow domestic violence shelters to remain open 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has threatened to pull the contract this month due to failed physical inspections dating back to 2009. The lawmakers successfully sought an extension on behalf of residents that do not want to be displaced from their homes.

“We have heard from many residents of Eleanor Roosevelt House and although they recognize the repeated violations with which they have to deal with on daily basis, it appears that most would like to stay in the housing complex. We respectfully ask that the management of the building be given an extension to make the necessary improvements to the property,” they wrote earlier this week in a letter to HUD’s field director in Hartford.

In addition to Fox, the letter was signed by Stamford State Representatives Patricia Billie Miller (D-145), William Tong (D-147), Livvy Floren (R-149) and Michael Molgano (R-144) along with State Senators Carlo Leone (D-27) and Scott Frantz (R-36).

The legislators also cited the proximity to train and bus service as well as the community atmosphere that has developed at the complex in asking HUD for the extension.

“This is about protecting the residents from having their lives turned upside down by being forced to move,” Fox said. “We very much appreciate HUD’s efforts to improve conditions and expect the management company to work closely with them to get all the repairs done that are needed to keep residents in their homes.”

The bill, which passed the House of Representatives and now moves to the Senate, specifies qualifying criteria for attorney general by simply requiring someone to be admitted to the Connecticut Bar Association as an attorney for a continuous period of at least 10 years.

“Voters should ultimately decide if someone is qualified to hold office, not the courts,” said Fox, who led debate on the House floor. “By clarifying and simplifying requirements for attorney general, we should be able to avoid litigation in future elections.”

Since 1897, Connecticut law has required a person to be an attorney with at least 10 years of “active practice at the bar of this state” to be sworn in as attorney general. Under appeal of a Superior court ruling that deemed then-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz an eligible candidate, the state Supreme Court disqualified her 2010 candidacy by interpreting “active practice” to include some experience litigating cases in court.

“Though court litigation is an important and high profile aspect of practicing law, the elected office of attorney general should not be limited as such,” said Fox. “There are plenty of excellent corporate and other types of lawyers that could make great attorney generals and they should have the right to seek office.”

During a public hearing before the Judiciary Committee last month, the Connecticut Bar Association testified in support of the bill, noting that current statute would disqualify many if not most lawyers from serving as attorney general.

There is currently about $400 million in state tax delinquencies eligible for collection and Fox said the legislation will serve as an avenue to garner revenue that is past due.

“It makes sense that someone who owes back taxes to the state should pay those taxes if they are lucky enough to win a lottery,” said Fox, who serves as House Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “This will not only raise needed revenue for the state, but will also help ensure greater confidence and fairness in our tax system.”

Current state statute already requires the Connecticut Lottery Corp. to check winning tickets valued at $5,000 or more against a list of individuals delinquent on child support payments. The lottery child support collection program, begun in 2004, has brought in about $1.5 million in delinquent payments.

“Connecticut is facing an unprecedented fiscal challenge and this bill will bring in needed revenue that is already owed to the state," said Rep. William Tong (D-Stamford), a co-sponsor of the bill. "If this bill results in the collection of even a relatively small percentage of what is due, it will help in our efforts to hold the line on taxes.”

Fox said Stamford resident Anthony Martino, who works as a Support Enforecemnt Officer with the Judicial Department at the Stamford Courthouse, suggested the idea and testified at a public hearing on the bill before the legislature’s Public Safety Committee.

“Winners are checked against a database of obligors owing child support, so I suggested the state could apply the same process to those owing delinquent taxes,” Martino testified in February. “The concept could be further extended to casino winnings.”

The legislation now goes to the Senate where Senator Carlo Leone (D-Stamford) is a sponsor and approval is expected.

The Talmud is a compilation of doctrines written by ancient Jewish teachers. Often referencing the Old Testament, it is considered the basic book of Jewish law.

Bais Binyomin is a small private non-profit college for men that features a curriculum focused on Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history. “We seek to help students build a world outlook drawn from the ethical and moral concepts of Judaism,” reads the school’s mission statement in part.

“This legislation expands opportunities in higher education for students looking to pursue a degree that focuses on Jewish heritage,” said Fox. “Bais Binyomin Academy is a respected member of the Stamford community and has earned a wonderful reputation for providing a unique educational experience.”

In September 2010, the state Board of Governors for Higher Education gave its approval for a Talmudic Studies certificate program and advised Bais Binyomin President Rabbi Simcha Schustal that the General Assembly must also pass legislation granting the school a charter.

The bill now goes to the state Senate for approval.

CSG created the Criminal Justice Board of Advisors in 1996. The purpose of the Board is to promote innovative policy and management ideas to reduce crime and to communicate to Congress collective state positions on criminal justice matters.

“Ensuring justice and fairness in our laws is an ongoing challenge that demands staying on top of emerging trends and policies,” Fox said. “Being able to work closely with legislators from across the country will help me better represent the residents of Connecticut.”

Rep. Fox is serving his fourth term in the Legislature representing the 146th Assembly District in Stamford. In addition to chairing the Judiciary Committee, he is also a member of the Transportation and Government Administration & Elections Committees.

“Rep. Fox’s state legislative experience will allow him to represent Connecticut well as he undertakes this new challenge,” Speaker Donovan said. “This is a unique opportunity for Gerry to meet with fellow leaders from across the nation and exchange ideas on what states can do to improve our criminal justice system.”

Established in 1933, the Council of State Governments is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides information, research, and training to state officials in all 50 states to promote region-wide initiatives, facilitate inter-branch cooperation, advocate on state-federal issues, and educate policymakers and the public on regional priorities.

HARTFORD, Conn.- Connecticut lawmakers are considering changes to the qualifications needed to run for attorney general after a dispute last year ended up before the state Supreme Court and cost one candidate her campaign.

The legislature's judiciary committee plans a public hearing Friday on a proposal that would rewrite state law to require candidates to have at least 10 years of Connecticut Bar Association membership before becoming attorney general.

The proposal would also eliminate a phrase calling for "active practice at the bar," which Supreme Court justices interpreted as a reference to courtroom litigation.

The 2010 ruling knocked Democratic candidate and Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz out of the race for attorney general because despite her background as a corporate lawyer, she lacked litigation experience.

The Connecticut Bar Association and lawmakers calling for the change say the high court's interpretation did not only apply to Bysiewicz. They say it also disqualifies scores of lawyers whose experience might be a good fit for attorney general, but whose legal practice has been primarily in the boardroom, not the courtroom.

"We have some very talented corporate attorneys in Connecticut who are highly respected in their field, but who would not be able to run for attorney general under the way it's interpreted now," said state Rep. Gerald Fox, a Stamford Democrat and co-chairman of the judiciary committee.

Connecticut is among 43 states in which the attorney general is elected. In most, a certain threshold of legal knowledge and experience is required by state law or constitution.

Last year's dispute occurred after Bysiewicz's opponents questioned her qualifications and, believing she fit the criteria in state law, she sued the Secretary of the State's Office for a ruling.

The state's Republican Party joined the lawsuit as a defendant, then forced her to acknowledge in a deposition that she had never tried a case and had not been in a courtroom since law school. A lower court ruled that Bysiewicz met the requirement to run, but the state GOP appealed. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's ruling and she was disqualified.

Democrat George Jepsen went on to win the attorney general job in a race against Republican Martha Dean last fall. Bysiewicz finished her term as secretary of the state, joined a prominent Connecticut law firm and is now running for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Asked her opinion on the proposal to change the law's language, Bysiewicz said in a written statement Tuesday that democracy depends on trusting voters to choose their public servants.

"As a matter of public policy, our state should be encouraging the broadest group of people to seek public office," she said.

“We need to put more bite in our present stalking law and that not only means more severe penalties, but recognition and inclusion of online cyber stalking,” said Fox. “Technology has given stalkers a cloak to hide behind and made their victims much more vulnerable.”

The legislation came out of the Speaker’s Task Force on Domestic Violence, of which Fox is a member, and was the subject of a recent public hearing before the Judiciary Committee.

Fox pointed to compelling testimony at the hearing by both law enforcement officials and victims citing examples of stalkers using communications tools such as email to contact their targets’ family and employers resulting in devastating consequences.

“Jane Doe” testified that her stalker had progressed from harassing phone calls and following to an all out cyber attack.

“My ex boyfriend had changed my webpage and placed a webpage on my computer alerting me to a website that explained how cell phones are tapped,” she testified. “He uses social networking websites to spread rumors, gossip and emails to friends and strangers.”

Fox expects the bill to be approved by his committee within the next two weeks.

Rep. Gerald Fox III, House Chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, speaks at a press conference announcing recommendations from the Speaker's Domestic Violence Task Force. Fox, a member of the task force, is joined by Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan. 

“With about 30 percent of criminal court dockets involving domestic violence, reducing its incidence is an ongoing challenge,” said State Representative Gerald Fox III (D-Stamford), who serves as House Chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee and is a member of the Domestic Violence Task Force. “These recommendations build upon the great progress accomplished last year with a focus on both law enforcement and improving victim services.”

“We have looked at domestic violence from a variety of angles and today’s recommendations show real breadth and depth,” said Flexer. “With one in every four women experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime, we need to continue working together to improve both protection for victims and the overall prevention of domestic violence.”

Chief among the group’s recommendations is a series of changes to the judicial system, including reforming the bail bond process to improve the state’s ability to regulate bail bond agents and professional bondsmen to stop the practice of “undercutting.”

There have been a number of serious and fatal domestic violence incidents—including the tragic murder of Shengyl Rasim last year in West Haven—where the practice of bail bond undercutting played a role. In these instances, bail bond agents illegally discounted the premium due on the defendants’ bonds and failed to charge for the amount they are statutorily required to charge. As a result, defendants post bond at rates lower than what the state requires and are released back into the community, sometimes without any “cooling off” period.

In 2010, Selami Ozdemir shot his wife, Shengyl Rasim, as she held her crying infant in her arms and their young son slept in the next room shortly after being released on bond following his second arrest for a domestic violence offense in a four month period. Ozdemir, despite having his bail set at $25,000, was bailed out immediately by a bail bondsman without Ozdemir giving any monetary compensation to the bail bondsman.

“We made important progress in empowering victims, law enforcement personnel and service providers with groundbreaking legislation a year ago,” said Donovan. “We still must do more to put a stop to these horrific crimes. I am encouraged that this task force is doing everything it can to prevent family violence and ensure that victims of domestic violence are receiving the help they need.”

The task force has also heard concerns about a lack of timely response from law enforcement to restraining order violations. To improve response time in these cases, the task force is proposing that a Statewide Law Enforcement Model Policy be implemented for the response to incidents of domestic violence.

The taskforce is also advocating improvements to the current restraining order laws. Among their recommendations are to permit teens to secure restraining orders against their abusive teen dating partners. Currently adults can secure restraining orders against abusive intimate partners, but minors can only secure orders against abusive adults.

“The issue of domestic violence crosses socio-economic and ethnic boundaries as well as party lines. I'm proud to join with others in the legislature in identifying ongoing problems with the domestic violence laws and in efforts to better assist victims and their families. I believe the Task Force has put forward significant recommendations to solve these flaws in the law," said State Representative Clark Chapin (R- New Milford).

Exposure to family violence has a lasting and traumatic impact on children, and recent studies have shown a strong link between untreated traumatic exposure and cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, lifelong mental health difficulties, incarceration, unemployment, violence and early death. In response to this, the task force would also like to incorporate trauma-informed care principles in the treatment of domestic violence victims to prevent chronic physical and behavioral health consequences and avoid the costs of managing chronic illness later in life.

The recommendations arose from a series of meetings and public hearings the task force held to hear from domestic violence advocacy groups, survivors, law enforcement professionals including prosecutors and judges, and others about the next steps the legislature could take to augment the domestic violence reforms enacted last year.

“I am very pleased with the accomplishments made by the Domestic Violence Task Force this session,” said State Representative Terrie Wood (R-Darien). “These recommendations will better prepare both the judicial branch and health care professionals to handle these sensitive situations in a positive and productive manner. I hope that the General Assembly gives these ideas serious consideration.”

The task force, created by Speaker Donovan, was responsible for introducing and leading passage of a three-part package of reforms during the 2010 session that led to the most sweeping changes to the state’s domestic violence statutes in almost 25 years. Additional information about the task force can be found on its web site at: www.housedems.ct.gov/DV.

Echoing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's call to create more jobs as part of his state budget address this week, state Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, said obtaining funding for transportation projects will help attract business.

Fox had been hoping the governor would include nearly $50 million in funding to replace the deteriorating rail station parking garage downtown and replace the Atlantic Street overpass where trucks delivering goods to the South End often get stuck.

"What we plan to do in Stamford with those two projects has so much potential to create jobs that that will be the argument we make in seeking funding," Fox said.

The governor's budget included few specific projects, but many area legislators said they were pleased Malloy is emphasizing the need to maintain the state's mass transit and highway infrastructure that had been long deferred.

Among the transportation related projects and investments identified by Malloy's budget office to be funded in his two-year budget are:

• $227 million to fully fund the state Department of Transportation's Fix-It-First program to perform high-priority repairs on highways and bridges.
• $196 million to maintain bus and rail infrastructure, above and beyond current funding levels.
• $50 million over two years to support the dredging of heavily silted Bridgeport Harbor and other maritime projects like refurbishing ferry slip and harbor facilities in New London.

Malloy's budget director, Benjamin Barnes said the proposals would keep rail and bus fares flat through 2011, further delaying the first of seven consecutive annual fare increases of 1 percent to pay for new M-8 cars until January 2012.

Connecticut Rail Commuter Council Chairman Jim Cameron said that the plan to delay the fare increase seemed reasonable given a pledge from former Gov. M. Jodi Rell to postpone the fare increase until the M-8s are in service.

"I hope he will be able to honor it if there is any further delay in the testing program for the M-8s," Cameron said. "I would say that it is good news." The state is also expected to continue releasing funds toward an $880 million project to double track a passenger rail line to shorten commuter trips between lower Connecticut and Massachuetts.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Norwalk, and state Sen. Toni Boucher, whose district includes Westport, said they support Malloy's pledge to block legislators from raiding the state's Special Transportation Fund away from transit projects to cover general government expenses.

"We need to protect that money for transportation purposes because we need it to maintain what we have," Lavielle said.

Lavielle said that she supported work on the project, but felt that investments to electrify the Metro-North Danbury Branch and upgrade the New Canaan Branch would be prioritized.

"If you are looking for the bang for the buck for the least amount of investment having the greatest impact, I think the New Haven Line and its branches really have to be a priority," Lavielle said.

On Inauguration Day, as the Governor’s Horse Guard trooped up Trinity Street in Hartford, veteran lawyer-lobbyist John King braved snow flurries and considered this moment in Connecticut political history.

After all, it was an important changing of the guard. Democrat Dannel Malloy, a lawyer, had named the two influential co-chairs of the legislative Judiciary Committee to posts in his administration. That means the committee where most court-related laws develops has two new leaders.

King called state Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, and Rep. Gerald M. Fox III, D-Stamford, “more moderate” than their predecessors, who were generally regarded as activists and were perhaps specifically best known for pushing for same-sex marriage in Connecticut.

Coleman, a 20-year legislative veteran and sole practitioner in Hartford, is replacing former Sen. Andrew McDonald, of Stamford, who now has the plum “consigliere” role of legal counsel to Malloy. Before taking the job, McDonald was a partner at Pullman & Comley and elevated the Judiciary Committee to the legislature’s most electrifying committee – unafraid to take on the Judicial Branch in an era of reform, or to cut short a judge’s judicial career in confirmation hearings.

Fox takes over for former Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, of East Haven, whose new job in the Office of Policy of Management includes overseeing spending and budget cutting as the undersecretary for criminal justice matters.

McDonald and Lawlor clashed repeatedly with the administration of former Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. King says that’s less likely to happen now. Not only are the governor and Judiciary Committee chairs all Democrats, but the former chairs have moved into key spots in the executive branch. That, said King, could lend a sense that drawbridges have been lowered, ushering in an era of communication and cooperation between all three branches of government that oversee the justice system.

“It doesn’t hurt that both houses and the governorship are all the same party, for the first time in 20 years,” said King, a partner at Hartford’s Updike, Kelly & Spellacy.

At least one key Republican seems comfortable with the new Judiciary Committee leadership. Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, shares a legislative district border in Windsor with Coleman, and the two regularly attend the same community events.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with Eric,” said Kissel, the Judiciary Committee’s senior Republican member. “When you’re both geographically close and close as far as your committee assignments, you end up building hopefully a good rapport.”

He describes Coleman as “a very even-keeled, feet-on-the-ground kind of individual. Extremely articulate. We may not always see eye-to-eye on all issues, but when he was chair a few years back, he was a pleasure to work with going forward.”

Kissell also has kind words for Fox. “Gerry is a great guy. He’s very diligent in his work. He’s got a great deal of expertise, particularly in probate court matters,” said Kissel. “We may have to revisit some of those issues after our major redistricting and consolidation of the probate system.”

General Practice

Fox practices with his father, Stamford Probate Judge Gerald Fox Jr., as Fox & Fox. “We’re a general practice firm. I handle a lot of the litigation. Civil, family and criminal. I primarily practice in the Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport courts. My father does a lot of estate work, as well as a number of real estate transactions, too.”

In late December, McDonald took the job as governor’s counsel, and his Stamford Senate seat became available. Fox had the choice of grabbing it or taking the Judiciary co-chair job, one of the choicest assignments in the legislature. His name as a Judiciary co-chair was in the wind long before Coleman’s. “I was aware that I was in line. It didn’t appear to be official until a couple of weeks ago,” Coleman said.

Beyond specific issues, Fox, who was first elected to the General Assembly in 2004, said he has one broad concern as a new Judiciary Committee co-chair. “As a practicing lawyer, it’s very important that we enact laws that are useful to the courts,” he said. “When I bring out a bill, it’s extremely important to me that it’s as clear as possible to those who have to implement the law.., Litigants, plaintiffs, defense lawyers, prosecutors, criminal defendants, self-represented parties or judges, I want them [all] to understand what the public policy should be.”

Fox said he’s keeping an eye on a budget proposal to stop transcribing public hearing testimony, leaving only audiotapes to search.

“As a lawyer, I recognize the importance of having the transcripts accessible,” Fox said. “At the same time I want to keep an open mind to the proposals. If we can find a way to reduce costs while maintaining accessibility, I’ll be open to it. But I think it is important that the public have access to what we do at the General Assembly.”

Previous Experience

Coleman, who has a solo law office on Hartford’s Jefferson Street, describes his practice as “criminal defense work, personal injury work and some probate. At one time I was doing real estate transactions, but that” as has been the case with many Connecticut lawyers “has tapered off considerably.”

Coleman served in the state House of Representatives from 1983 to 1994. He was elected to the Senate in 1995, and has held his seat ever since. In addition to his overall experience, he has also served previously as a Judiciary co-chair.

Coleman has consistently expressed concern that a statistically disproportionate segment of Connecticut’s minority citizens are imprisoned. In addition, he said, “I’m concerned about violence in the state and particularly in the urban centers. I think there should be some initiative to address violence. It’s not exclusively a Judiciary issue, but we have some cognizance over that issue.”

Coleman says it’s very safe to predict a death penalty debate, with the dramatic possibility that its repeal could actually occur, against the backdrop of the unfolding trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, accused of the murders of three women in the Cheshire home invasion that became a national and international story.

Fox voted for the repeal of the death penalty in 2005, and again in 2009, when it passed both houses, only to be vetoed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Malloy has consistently remained a death penalty opponent, a position he concedes nearly cost him the election.

“What you’ll find with Governor Malloy,” said Fox, “is he’s willing to say something that may not be popular with everybody, but he’ll say what he believes. He’ll explain himself, and how he came to his conclusions. I think people will find that that’s refreshing.”