Stefanowski chides Lamont over CT prison conditions
CHESHIRE — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, who has campaigned thus far on a proudly tough-oncrime platform, knocked Gov. Ned Lamont over a surprising subject Thursday: conditions in Connecticut prisons.
“We’re here to advocate for the inmates and the corrections staff suffering in horrible conditions behind me,” Stefanowski said, standing across the street from Cheshire Correctional Institute.
“Conditions that are so bad we should be ashamed that the great state of Connecticut is putting state employees and inmates through it.”
Stefanowski said he has heard from correction officers and incarcerated people who are struggling with a lack of air conditioning amid the current heat wave, a dearth of working showers and a shortage in corrections staff that they say has created unsafe conditions.
To combat these issues, he proposed the state conduct a review of correctional facilities, allow media into prisons to view conditions and offer “hero pay” bonuses to correction officers.
A spokesperson for the Department of Correction said there are “no issues with the air conditioning at Cheshire Correctional” and that people incarcerated in Connecticut “have regular access to showers at multiple times throughout the day.”
She said that while “a high number of staff ” are out with COVID-19 or on medical leave, the agency “continues to be proactive” in hiring correction officers.
Asked about prison conditions, Lamont spokesperson Max Reiss touted Connecticut’s relatively low incarcerated population.
“Connecticut’s prison population continues to be at or near historic lows, which leads to less congested facilities, making our facilities easier to manage for all of our staff,” Reiss said in an email.
“Routine maintenance is a regular occurrence in these facilities to ensure they are adequate for both offenders and staff.”
Stefanowski said he requested to tour a prison earlier this year but had his application denied under a long-standing policy that prohibits visits for political candidates.
Throughout his campaign for governor, Stefanowski has cited an increase in murder in some Connecticut cities (amid a broader decrease in violent crime statewide) to justify proposals for stricter laws regarding juvenile crime and more money for police departments.
On Thursday, however, he chided Lamont, a Democrat, for a recent rise in incarceration, which followed a dramatic decline early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked to square his tough-on-crime stances with his stated concern over rising incarceration, Stefanowski said the state should “get help” for young people convicted of minor crimes but crack down on violent offenders. As for whether his approach would lead to a further increase in incarceration, Stefanowski said, “it might, it might not, but I’ll tell you right now is unacceptable.”
Over the past decade, first under Gov. Dannel Malloy and then under Lamont, Connecticut has sought to establish a less punitive justice system, focused more on rehabilitation and less on punishment for its own sake.
As part of that effort, the state has closed prisons, legalized marijuana, raised the age at which teenagers are tried as adults for most crimes, reduced penalties for certain drug-related crimes and established an expedited parole process for nonviolent offenders, among other policies.
Despite his frequent focus on crime, which he describes as “spiraling out-of-control,” Stefanowski said Thursday that as governor he would favor a similarly rehabilitative approach, at least up to a point.
“I think the objective is always to rehabilitate, especially with younger people,” Stefanowski said. “But I also think the issue right now is that you have to have safety and comfort while you do that.”
According to the most recent FBI statistics, Connecticut had the fourth lowest level of violent crime of any state in 2020, having recorded an increase in property crime but a dip in violent crime.
Democrats this year helped pass a bill aimed at reducing juvenile crime but have argued that further tough-on-crime policies would harm Black and Latino communities while failing to meaningfully improve public safety.