Judiciary Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-1059
AN ACT CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF THE CORRECTION OMBUDS, THE
USE OF ISOLATED CONFINEMENT, SECLUSION AND RESTRAINTS, SOCIAL
CONTACTS FOR INCARCERATED PERSONS AND TRAINING AND
Title: WORKERS' COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS.
Vote Date: 4/8/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/22/2021
File No.: 616
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
The Judiciary Committee Rep. Frank Smith, 118th Dist.,
Rep. Geraldo C. Reyes, 75th Dist.,
Rep. Josh Elliott, 88th Dist., Rep. Matthew Ritter, 1st Dist.,
Rep. David Michel, 146th Dist., Sen. Julie Kushner, 24th Dist.,
Rep. Anne M. Hughes, 135th Dist., Rep. Peter A. Tercyak, 26th Dist.,
Rep. Robyn A. Porter, 94th Dist., Sen. Rick Lopes, 6th Dist.,
Rep. Travis Simms, 140th Dist., Rep. Tom Arnone, 58th Dist.
Rep. Quentin W. Phipps, 100th Dist.,
Rep. John "Jack" F. Hennessy, 127th Dist.,
Rep. Edwin Vargas, 6th Dist.,
Rep. Michael A. Winkler, 56th Dist.,
Sen. Martin M. Looney, 11th Dist.,
Sen. Will Haskell, 26th Dist.,
Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo, 111th Dist.,
Sen. Dennis A. Bradley, 23rd Dist.,
Sen. Alex Kasser, 36th Dist.,
Rep. Brian T. Smith, 48th Dist.,
Rep. Christine Palm, 36th Dist.,
Rep. Maria P. Horn, 64th Dist.,
Sen. Marilyn V. Moore, 22nd Dist.,
Rep. Kate Farrar, 20th Dist.,
Rep. Susan M. Johnson, 49th Dist.,
Rep. Anthony L. Nolan, 39th Dist.,
Rep. Joshua M. Hall, 7th Dist.,
Sen. Christine Cohen, 12th Dist.,
REASONS FOR BILL:
This bill changes various laws related to the DOC, with the intention of increasing
accountability and decreasing cruel, counterproductive, and discriminatory practices to
acknowledge the humanity and worth of inmates. Multiple human rights bodies have
interpreted Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) disciplinary procedures as violations
of human rights laws and standards. Last year, the United Nations published a report which
stated: The [Connecticut] DOC appears to routinely resort to repressive measures, such as
prolonged or indefinite isolation, excessive use of in cell restraints, and needlessly intrusive
strip searches (...) a state-sanctioned policy aimed at purposefully inflicting pain or suffering,
physical or mental, which may well amount to torture.
This bill does not ban solitary confinement or in-cell restraint but limits the practices by
establishing new laws related to use of seclusion, restraints, and other disciplinary tactics.
The bill allows most incarcerated individuals the opportunity to be outside of their cells for at
least eight hours per day, establishes basic visitation and correspondence rights for inmates,
and provides mental health care benefits and additional training for correction officers. The
bill enhances the powers of the correction ombuds program, mandates the creation of a
Correction Accountability Commission, and requires the DOC to collect and annually report
data that is currently publicly inaccessible.
SUBSTITUTE LANGUAGE:
The substitute language defines, clarifies, and limits DOC disciplinary practices and
establishes new rights for incarcerated individuals. The language provides the Office of the
Correction Ombuds independence from DOC oversight and expands the scope, authority,
and services provided by the ombuds program to include all incarcerated individuals in DOC
custody as opposed to just minors. The language also extends protections and benefits to
correction officers who suffer emotional or mental impairment while working at DOC facilities.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
State of Connecticut, Division of Public Defender Services, Chief Public Defender, Christine
Perra Rapillo supports this bill stating that the use of isolation as a means of discipline is
inhumane and counterproductive to the goal of rehabilitation. It is also stated that the DOC
should work to eliminate the use of solitary confinement and restraints, by providing effective
alternatives, and this proposal is a step in the right direction.
State of Connecticut, Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities supports this bill,
citing a 2016 study by Yale Law School that found significant racial disparities in solitary
confinement at the DOC. At the time, Black male inmates made up 42% of the Connecticut
prison population but accounted for 57% of the solitary confinement population, while white
male inmates made up 32% of the Connecticut prison population but only 23% of those in
solitary confinement. It is also stated that these racial disparities persisted when controlling
for factors like the type of crime they were convicted of, length of sentence, and age and that
the most significant disparities in the use of solitary confinement resulted from punishment for
discretionary infractions such as disobeying the order of a correctional officer.
State of Connecticut, Office of the Child Advocate, Acting Child Advocate, Sarah Healy
Eagan supports this bill but reminds officials that significant concerns persist for incarcerated
youth ages 15 to 21, and that progress for youth is hampered due to continued resources,
program design, and facility limitations of the adult prison custody model.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Waterbury, CT, Resident, and currently incarcerated individual, Carlos Baez supports this bill
stating that he has experienced prolonged isolation for up to 30 days at a time at Cheshire
C.I. as well as in-cell restraints. It is also stated that the DOC treats prisoners like they are
animals.
CT, Resident, and currently incarcerated individual, Joe Baltas supports this bill stating
experience with extensive physical assaults and mace attacks by DOC staff, false disciplinary
reports, being chained inside of his cell unable to move for several days, and prolonged
solitary confinement. Mr. Baltas stated that correction officers regularly spray mace under
the doors of isolation cells to amuse themselves with the prisoners reaction. It is also stated
that Mr. Baltas cannot count the number of people hes witnessed, break and begin to harm
themselves in vicious ways while corrections would stand by and watch and cheer on the
self-harm because it gives them an excuse to run into the cell, hurt someone, and put him in
chains.
Torrington, CT, Resident, and currently incarcerated individual, Kyle Lamar Paschal-Barros
supports this bill recalling his experience in prolonged solitary confinement when staff had
knowledge of his prior mental health and disability diagnoses. Mr. Paschal-Barros was
incarcerated before the age of eighteen and maintains his innocence.
Hartford, CT, Resident, and incarcerated individual currently in administrative segregation,
Julian Bennet supports this bill stating that he has been restrained inside a freezing cold cell
over 50 times, stating that while chained up as a slave overnight, Ive been forced to stay in
cells that had feces, urine, dried up food particles, and little insects all over. Mr. Bennet
recalls numerous times that supervisors and correction officers entered his cell while he was
on in-cell restraints without video surveillance and beat him and sprayed him with mace then
claimed that he was resisting. It is also stated that as someone with lifelong mental health
disorders, being in this kind of environment does not fit my institutional needs, and in fact
worsens my mental disorders to the point where sometimes I dont feel as though I am
human anymore.
New Haven, CT, Resident, Tracy Blanford, RN supports this bill stating that it is a necessary
reform with specific goals that will enhance public safety, inmate safety, and reduce harm to
correctional officers. It is also stated that the state needs: clear and enforceable standards for
the use of any isolative or restrictive measures utilizing best practices, systematic data
collection on isolation and restraint use, transparency and accountability within the DOC,
access to social connections, letters, and phone calls, with clear standards for denying these,
and support for correction officers such as mental health training.
Hamden, CT, Resident, and Stop Solitary CT, Board Member, Kevnesha Boyd supports this
bill stating that her experience as a mental health counselor for the DOC was traumatic and
Page 3 of 9 SB-1059
that the work environment is toxic. It is also stated that she resigned after one of her patients
was found chained dead in isolated confinement in a cell.
Yale University School of Medicine, Psychiatry Resident, Jessica Chaffkin MD supports this
bill, citing findings that those exposed to isolated confinement are over 6 times as likely to
attempt suicide while incarcerated. It is also stated that placing people in isolated
confinement does not reduce rates of violence or misconduct.
New Haven, CT, Resident, Paul Hammer supports this bill citing a 40% decline in assaults,
forced cell entries, and the use of heavy restraints at the Colorado DOC after the state
banned solitary in two prisons devoted to those with mental health issues. Supermax prisons
ended long-term solitary confinement, developed de-escalation cells as opposed to long-term
restrictive housing cells, and allowed prisoners in supermax facilities to use the gym, day
halls, and re-entry units daily. It is also stated that the Connecticut DOC is currently tolerating
and funding torture and that those in solitary confinement are in the custody of all CT citizens,
as everyone pays taxes to support such violations of human rights.
Center for Childrens Advocacy, TeamChild Youth Justice Project Director, Marisa Halm, Esq.
supports this bill stating that solitary confinement and prolonged isolation have significant
deleterious and often irreparable impacts on mental health and that the impact is even more
harmful to individuals with mental illness and for youth who are still developing.
New Haven, CT, Resident, Emerge CT, Supervisor, and formerly incarcerated individual,
Tabari Hashim supports this bill, recalling his experience of 365 days in solitary confinement,
counting down and praying for an opportunity to see my mother and son again. When I was
allowed visits again, I was behind a glass and another room. I was fully chained to my feet. I
hope nobody listening to me goes through this heartache. Can you imagine feeling degraded,
fighting back tears, and smiling at the same time. I wanted to be positive for my mother
because I knew she was feeling unbearable and trauma. Her son fully chained like a slave.
New Haven, CT, Resident, and formerly incarcerated individual, Wilkins Guadalupe supports
this bill recounting the trauma of being isolated in a cell 23 hours per day without access to
calls, letters, commissary, or visits. It is also stated that abuse of inmates by staff from vicious
beatings to unprovoked use of chemical weapons are commonplace and that staff members
facilitate and profit off of drug-use in prison.
Vera Institute of Justice Vice President, Kevin Keenan supports this bill citing several major
challenges in restricting solitary confinement, including the ability of systems to call it by
different names and change definitions and ignore the experience of the impacted person,
and unintended consequences related to communication, restraints, accurate data, oversight,
and officer wellness.
New Haven, CT, Resident, Stop Solitary CT, Steering Committee Member, Member, and
formerly incarcerated individual, Leighton Johnson supports this bill recalling the traumatic
experience of five years in solitary confinement and instances of in-cell restraint lasting
several days at a time. After 12 years of incarceration, Mr. Johnson received his freedom and
was diagnosed with PTSD upon re-entry to society.
Page 4 of 9 SB-1059
West Haven, CT, Resident, Colleen Lord supports this bill stating that her son, Robby Talbot,
died while in custody after being assaulted and pepper-sprayed by guards. It is also stated
that no criminal charges were brought after the state funded murder of her child.
CT Resident, and currently incarcerated individual, William McKinney supports this bill,
recalling the extreme trauma and lifelong psychological impact of prolonged isolation and in-
cell restraints for up to 72 hours at a time and being beaten by staff while chained. It is also
stated that upon his release he experienced severe trauma and long-term suffering. He can't
be in crowded rooms, stand in line with people in back of him, loud noises as he perceived
everyone as a threat and felt at any moment that he would be attacked. "Imagine going from
extreme isolation to freedom, it's sensory overload." He feels very paranoid and afraid all of
the time.
American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, Interim Senior Policy Counsel, Kelly
McConney Moore supports this bill stating that the goal of our justice system is meant to be
rehabilitation, not punishment. It is also stated that one study found that individuals placed in
solitary confinement were fourteen times more likely to engage in self-harm, including
suicide, than people who had never been subjected to solitary confinement.
Pace University, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Professor of Law, Michael B. Mushlin
supports this bill stating that the absence of witnesses in solitary confinement significantly
increases instances of inhumane mistreatment and acts of torture.
Bloomfield, CT, Resident and former DOC employee, Naa Opoku supports this bill stating
that, to work in a prison system where youre taking away the liberties of another person, you
have to dehumanize individuals and create distance to justify the work and maintain sanity. It
is also stated that, while the living spaces are inhumane due to bugs and mold, solitary is a
different kind of hell. I think individuals are able to maintain this system because they truly do
not care. Until it is your brother or sister who becomes psychotic due to only being allowed 1
hour of rec time, no tv, reading materials or socialization, until it is your sister who is stripped
naked and forced to be in a cell 23 hours of the day and replay the trauma she has had to
endure her whole life (88% of women who are incarcerated are victims of trauma), until it is
closer to home people will never care about the individuals that society has discarded.
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Shoreline, Member, Denise Paley supports this bill stating
that her son who is severely mentally ill has been kept in isolation for periods exceeding one
week while in pretrial confinement at Manson Youth Institute.
One Standard of Justice, Executive Director, Cindy Prizio supports this bill stating that over
95% of people in prisons return to their communities and that the physical and emotional
wellbeing of those reentering society is an issue of public health and public safety.
Connecticut Justice Alliance, Justice Advisor, Alona Scott supports this bill, recalling her
experience as the child of an incarcerated individual who has suffered due to mental health
impacts of prolonged solitary confinement.
New Britain, CT, Resident, and currently incarcerated individual, Darnell Walker supports this
bill stating, Ive been short chained on in-cell restraints for up to 17 days. To the point that I
didnt even feel like a human.
Page 5 of 9 SB-1059
Mental Health Clinicians Action Network of CT supports this bill stating that the vast majority
of those accused or convicted of crimes have experienced trauma in their recent or distant
past and that isolation is an inhumane practice that creates new trauma experiences while
exacerbating existing trauma, including flashbacks, feelings of terror, deep loneliness, and
other signs of distress. It is also stated that human beings cannot be rehabilitated while
isolated as rehabilitation requires human interaction and support.
Yale Law School, Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law supports this bill stating that
the ban on putting individuals into extreme isolation reflects growing national consensus,
supported by many people in detention, their families and advocates, medical and mental
health professionals, corrections officials, policy makers, and scholars on these issues. It is
also stated that evidence shows that isolation in prison imposes grave harms and should be
limited to the greatest extent possible and fully abolished for most inmates.
Yale Law School, Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic supports this bill citing
research findings that the DOC held individuals in unrelenting isolation for months, and in
many cases years. It is also stated that international human rights norms prohibit imposition
of restraints for punitive purposes.
The following residents and organizations support this bill. Many mentioned over 150 years of
research in psychiatry, psychology, criminology, anthropology, and epidemiology which
indisputably documents the severe and often irreparable harm of solitary confinement and
isolation.
Norwalk, CT, Resident Zoey Altis
CT, Resident, Anonymous
Wesleyan Democrats, Middletown Community Director, Emma Bella Bass-Lawrence
Yale College Democrats, Member, Michaela Bauman
New Haven, CT, Resident, Ilyana Benjelloun
Black and Brown United in Action
New Haven, CT, Resident, Ivana Bozic
Ridgefield, CT, Resident, Catherine Bradley
North Haven, CT, Resident, Jennifer Brubacher
Wilton, CT, Resident, Donald K. Buxton
New Haven, CT, Resident, Kai Amir Cedeno
Wethersfield, CT, Resident, Debra Cohen
Chester, CT, Resident, Marta Daniels
New Haven, CT, Resident, Kristen Estabrook
New Haven, CT, Resident, Barbara Fair
CT Legal Rights Project, Inc., Executive Director, Kathleen Flaherty, Esq.
CT Justice Alliance, Justice Advisor, Fernecia Smith
Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, Member, Taylor Ford
Hamden, CT, Resident, Ann Froines
New Haven, CT, Resident, Stop