Arthur Hapgood behaved well enough in prison to shave eight months off his 71-month sentence for robbery. Last month, though, he allegedly murdered his 1-year-old niece in Bristol, becoming the latest Exhibit A for critics of the state government's early release program.
Enacted in 2011 to control spending by cutting the size of state prison populations, time off for violent criminals who show "risk reduction" in prison has drawn fire ever since.
"I'm not sure that the program is working well other than bringing down costs in terms of getting people out of jail sooner," said Dr. William Petit, the surviving victim of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion. One of the killers had been released from prison early prior to the brutal attacks.
"I don't think there's much data to support the fact people are being rehabilitated by taking courses," Petit said, after signing a petition to repeal the program.
Its organizer, Republican candidate for State Senate Len Suzio, boasts 5,000 signatures and is pushing for another 5,000.
Suzio said one problem with the program is that sentences are too short to begin with.
"The sentences are reduced as part of the plea bargaining process. You will see all sorts of reduced penalties to begin with and now the early release program only accentuates and exacerbates that," Suzio said.
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He's running in the district that includes Meriden, where Frankie Resto, out of prison early, shot a convenience store owner to death in 2012. Suzio's opponent in next month's election lives in Meriden too.
"I voted on the floor to repeal the program," said Democratic State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo, of Meriden. "This was passed on my opponent's watch. He never submitted legislation to repeal this program and what I find very curious is he also wrote a letter to get someone out on early release, a nonviolent offender, but still."
That letter emerged in the 2012 campaign, when Bartolomeo unseated Suzio by 280 votes. Suzio argued he was against early release of violent offenders, not whitecollar criminals.
