Legislature voting on race impact law

HARTFORD — The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee today is expected to vote on a new rule requiring racial-and-ethic impact statements on future laws affecting the state’s prison inmates.

“The underlying fact is, at it stands today, 71 percent of inmates are black or Latino,” said Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the committee. “We have an obligation to keep an eye on that as we make future public policy.”

He said the rule, if adopted, would include Connecticut in a nationwide movement toward more consideration of unintended consequences on racial and ethnic issues.

He noted that if the state had this law in place at the time the state decided to impose stricter penalties for drug dealing in school zones, researchers might have realized then that the law was stacked against city dwellers.

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Legislature voting on race impact law
Connecticut Post