Connecticut has received a $150,000 grant to help it come up with a plan to reduce the number of people jailed while awaiting trial or serving short sentences. The grant is one of 20 awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to jurisdictions across the nation.Ten of the jurisdictions will be chosen to receive $4 million grants to implement their plans.
Mike Lawlor, the state's undersecretary for criminal justice and planning, says the grant dovetails nicely with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Second Chance Society initiative which the Democrat outlined in February’s budget address.
“Together let’s help more of our neighbors rejoin their families, rejoin their communities and rejoin Connecticut’s growing economy,” Malloy said during the address.
About 4,000 people are in jail awaiting trials or serving sentences of a year or less, according to Lawlor. He says about 300 of them are there because they could not post bond after being charged with simple drug possession.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
