| Over the course of the summer I will send a bi-weekly newsletter that includes several pieces of legislation passed out of the legislature from a particular committee. This week I have highlighted bills passed out of the Judiciary Committee.
ADOPTION OF THE CONNECTICUT PARENTAGE ACT (PA 21-15)
We modernized our statutes to reflect the realities of families and parenting. This act:
- Updates surrogacy provisions,
- Addresses the rights of children born from donor-assisted conception including the child’s right to access medical and identifying information from the donor if the donor agrees,
- Precludes the establishment of a parent-child relationship between a child and parent if that child was a result of a sexual assault,
- Establishes a de facto parental status of a legal parent who is not biologically related to the child.
USE OF FORCE BY A PEACE OFFICER (PA 21-4)
We clarified the use of force standards first passed in the Police Accountability Act and allowed time for departments to train these the new standards.
RISK PROTECTION ORDERS FOR FIREARM PERMITS AND ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATES (PA 21-67)
In 1999, following the mass shooting at the Connecticut Lottery, the General Assembly passed Public Act 99-212, which created the nation’s first “Red Flag” law. Since then, 19 other states and DC have enacted their own laws, most over the last few years. In order to bring our law up to date with the best practices we've seen across the nation, and to save lives of residents here in Connecticut, we made the first major update to our law since we pioneered its use over twenty years ago.
These changes include:
- Prohibiting individuals subject to an order from acquiring firearms or ammunition.
- Requiring a finding from a judge that a person no longer poses an imminent threat of danger to themselves or others before their firearms are returned.
- Allowing family, household members and medical professionals to petition the court for an investigation order.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING (HB 6657)
We made the following changes to our human trafficking laws:
- Broadened the crimes of “sex trafficking,” “patronizing a prostitute,” and “commercial sexual abuse of a minor” to include actions taken in exchange for anything of value, instead of only for paying a fee.
- Allowed for the vacating of certain crimes if the crimes were committed while an individual was a victim of human trafficking.
- Increased the membership of the Trafficking in Persons Council
- Allowed the court to compel certain witnesses to testify and produce evidence in delinquency proceedings.
COURT OPERATIONS (HB 6505)
In order to obtain relevant data that will allow us to craft better policy in the fight against car theft, we required the Judicial Branch to collect and report data on juvenile detention requests by officers and whether those requests were granted.
CLEAN SLATE ACT (PA 21-33)
In order to reduce the collateral consequences of a criminal record, we provided for the erasure of misdemeanor crimes seven years after conviction, and for the erasure of E and D Felonies ten years after conviction, with certain exceptions, for individuals who are crime-free over that duration. This legislation is estimated to grow CT’s economy by $1B annually.
ONLINE HARASSMENT (PA 21-56)
We expanded and updated our stalking and harassment laws. These changes include:
- Expanding the definition of the second degree stalking to include causing fear of harm to an animal and the disclosure of personally identifiable information through electronic communications.
- Allowing for those harmed by the disclosure of personally indefinable information to bring a civil action to recover damages.
- Expanding second degree harassment to include electronic communication.
- Expanding first degree stalking to include situations motivated by bias.
JENNIFERS' LAW (SB 1091)
We added coercive control to the definition of domestic violence, required the court to sanction a party that files frivolous or fabricated motions, expanded the “best interest of the child” factors to include the child’s physical and emotional health, and provided victims easier access to social services.
POLICING (PA 21-33)
This new law regarding policing procedures:
- Bans no knock warrants.
- Makes it illegal to entice a minor into committing a criminal act, which is designed to address instances when an adult encourages a minor to steal a car.
- Requires the Judicial Branch to study ways to speed up the juvenile justice process and reduce recidivism amongst juveniles.
- Expands the instances where a Police Officer’s certification may be revoked by specifying that undermining confidence in law enforcement includes issuing unlawful orders.
- Prohibits former police officers decertified in other states from becoming security guards.
|
