Connecticut
Connecticut to delete old criminal records starting Jan. 1 with cannabis cases
Some 44,000 cannabis-related legal histories shall be deleted from Connecticut state computer systems beginning Jan. 1 due to a brand new regulation that expunges outdated legal information.
However 280,000 different folks with felonies and misdemeanors must wait one other 18 months whereas the state totally comes on-line with its new “Clear Slate Legislation.”
CONNECTICUT VETERANS AFFAIRS WON’T FIX FATAL HEATING SYSTEM
“On Jan. 1, hundreds of individuals in Connecticut could have low-level hashish convictions routinely erased as a result of hashish legalization invoice we enacted final 12 months,” Gov. Ned Lamont stated in a press launch. “Particularly as Connecticut employers search to fill a whole bunch of hundreds of job openings, an outdated conviction for low-level hashish possession shouldn’t maintain somebody again from pursuing their profession, housing, skilled, and academic aspirations.”
The Clear Slate regulation was handed final 12 months to routinely erase legal information seven years after a misdemeanor conviction or 10 years after a conviction for many felonies. It was promoted by the ACLU and black activists who stated the black neighborhood had a 48% conviction charge regardless of representing 13% of the inhabitants, the CT Mirror reported.
Having a legal document impacts job prospects together with the power to completely combine with society, they stated.
California handed an identical regulation this fall and joins the states of Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Virginia, Delaware, and Colorado. Whereas a number of of the states will routinely clear the information, Connecticut requires the offenders to petition courts.
Lamont stated the know-how doesn’t exist to finish this course of on Jan. 1 for a large swath of crimes. Residents with intercourse crimes or household violence convictions usually are not eligible for expungement, the invoice says.
“Implementation entails important data know-how upgrades to permit legal justice businesses to ship and obtain knowledge to find out who can have their offenses erased and to replace document programs,” he stated. “The knowledge know-how programs concerned are advanced, and a few are outdated. As well as, important interpretation points might require clarification by the Normal Meeting.”
To date, the state has spent $5 million in software program upgrades to launch the brand new Clear Slate program.
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Lawmakers and neighborhood organizers who pushed for the invoice met final week at a Baptist church to debate their disappointment with the delay.
“Simply as powerfully as we talked in regards to the want to do that simply a short time in the past, we’re talking to the governor of the state and his employees,” Sen. Gary Winfield (D) stated. “I’ll guarantee you … actual work is happening. It isn’t simply because folks don’t wish to do that work.”
Connecticut
Smoke from MA fire noticed from Southington to New Haven
GREAT BARRINGTON, MA (WFSB) – Smoke from a large fire in Massachusetts wafted into Connecticut.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said on Tuesday morning that smoke from the fire in Great Barrington traveled south into the state.
“Many residents from Southington to New Haven and beyond may be noticing a strong smell of smoke and haze [Tuesday] morning,” DEEP said.
DEEP said that Tuesday’s weather conditions caused smoke to spread widely and stay close to the ground. That’s what made it more noticeable.
“Local officials are monitoring the situation,” it said. “If you’re sensitive to smoke, consider staying indoors and keeping windows closed until conditions improve.”
More on the forecast can be read in the technical discussion from Channel 3’s meteorologists here.
Copyright 2024 WFSB. All rights reserved.
Connecticut
Serious crash in downtown Stamford causes road closure
A serious car crash closed a busy road in downtown Stamford on Monday night.
The police department said Washington Boulevard is closed at the intersection with Bridge Street because of a serious crash.
Drivers are being asked to stay away from the area.
No additional information was immediately available.
Connecticut
Immigration advocates vow to fight Trump deportation plans
Immigration advocates say they’ve already been preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to ramp up deportations once he returns to the White House.
“We anticipate that they’re going to be very quick, very rapid, very massive efforts to grab as many people as possible and deport them,” National Immigration Law Center President Kica Matos said during a rally outside the Capitol on Monday.
Matos said hers and other organizations began considering possible actions earlier this year in case Trump won.
Now, Trump is promising to deliver on his campaign pledge, taking to his Truth Social platform earlier in the morning to confirm he plans to declare a national emergency.
He also intends to try and use the military to support his deportation effort, his post confirmed.
Advocates said they’re trying to assume undocumented immigrants in Connecticut that their organizations will offer support.
“If families have to be separated, it defeats the point completely because people are trying to get to the United States to be with their families,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, executive director of CT Students For a Dream.
Sookdeo said her family came from Guyana when she was a teenager and her grandmother, who was a U.S. citizen, was trying to help them also get permanent legal status.
Her grandmother died during the process, though, leaving Sookdeo’s family in limbo.
“Immigration is pretty complicated,” she said.
Democrats, meanwhile, said they won’t support federal deportation efforts.
Attorney General William Tong (D) pointed to the state’s Trust Act, which bars local and state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“Connecticut is going to care for our immigrant families and immigrant neighbors and friends,” Tong said.
There are some exceptions, including when an undocumented immigrant is convicted of a Class A or Class B felony. Tong wouldn’t say if that means Connecticut has to notify federal authorities of such a conviction.
“I’m not going to issue a legal opinion on the fly from this podium,” Tong said.
Connecticut Republicans were critical of Democrats, though, saying their policies don’t reflect what voters want.
Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said Connecticut spends too much money supporting undocumented immigrants, including with Medicaid, education and other assistance.
He also said voters are worried about public safety.
“It’s really out of step, I think, with what the residents and America wants, and that is, you know, safe borders, public safety and we have to get the cost of immigration under control,” Candelora said.
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