Connecticut legislators debate age and brain science in marriage, responsibility for crimes
Seeking to change Connecticut laws, a key legislative committee approved a series of measures Monday as they battled over which laws are appropriate at certain ages.
While a person’s age governs everything from when they can vote to legally drink alcohol, other aspects of Connecticut law are currently under review on both the civil and criminal level.
The Democratic-controlled judiciary committee voted to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 years old, up from the current law of 16. Concerns, however, were raised by both Republicans and Democrats about the proper role of the government in the issue.
State Rep. Craig Fishbein, who serves as the committee’s ranking House Republican, and others questioned whether the legislature should be getting involved in the age limit.
“It’s a manufactured problem,” said Fishbein, noting that he has been married for 31 years. “What we have here is not a crisis. It is not an urgency. … There are some 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds who shouldn’t be married, either.”
Currently, those aged 16 and 17 can get married if they receive approval from the probate court. Fishbein, though, said that only 31 people since 2018 have received permission from the court.
Rep. Doug Dubitsky, a Republican attorney, said, “We are all over the map with regard to dates. We, as a government, want to get involved in people’s lives in some things, but not other things. … I’m not sure that government has a role in marriage, anyway.”
Rep. Melissa Osborne, a Simsbury Democrat, supported the bill at the committee level, but noted that more analysis needs to be done in the coming weeks to make sure that the measure is constitutional. In the same fashion, deputy House Speaker Pro Tempore Robert Godfrey of Danbury temporarily supported the bill while questioning why the legislature would block two young people from getting married if, for example, they would soon be having a baby.
“We’re creating — sorry for my language — a statutory set of bastards,” Godfrey told committee members. “We’ve got children out of wedlock because it’s prohibited by state statute? I’ll vote to get this out of committee today, but this needs a significant amount of work.”
Advocates say that changing the law to 18 would place Connecticut on the same level with New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, among others.
All bills approved by the committee are subject to final approval by the full House of Representatives and Senate. Lawmakers will continue to negotiate the final details before the legislative session ends in early June.
Parole and age 25
Citing brain science, the committee also voted for a controversial bill that would provide a broader chance for parole for those who committed major crimes before the age of 25.
Democrats said that criminals sometimes make snap decisions at a young age that they might not have made at an older age.
“We are seeking to take into account the brain science we’ve learned the last 15-plus years or so,” said Sen. Gary Winfield, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the committee. “It’s about how we respond in certain situations. There’s a difference in the ability to respond, particularly in instantaneous situations, high-pressure situations. … What we’re talking about is situations where young people, without the full capacity to rationalize situations, have made what is a terrible choice, and that choice may have had a deep impact on the lives of … families, the victim. We’re saying after a certain period of time, you get the opportunity to potentially be reviewed and get relief.”
But Republicans rejected the idea, saying that those between the ages of 21 and 25 are fully cognizant of what they are doing.
“We need to make up our mind on when somebody becomes an adult,” Dubitsky said. “We’re sort of all over the map. My feeling is 21 is a reasonable number. If this bill changed the age from 18 to 21, I would support it. They go to war, they can drink alcohol, they can gamble. They can get married. They can have kids. They can do all the things that adults do, but we’re still going to treat them like children under this bill.”
Rep. Steven Stafstrom, a Bridgeport Democrat who co-chairs the committee with Winfield, offered caution concerning the proposal.
“This does not automatically grant parole to anyone,” Stafstrom said. “Sometimes victims and victims’ families forgive in different means.”
Deceptive interrogation tactics
In other matters, lawmakers also voted to deter coercive or deceptive interrogation tactics in an attempt to combat lying by police to a criminal suspect in order to obtain information. They debated over whether a confession that was made after police lied would be admissible in court.
State Rep. Greg Howard, a police officer in Stonington for the past 21 years, said he was concerned that the bill might apply to undercover officers who would automatically not tell the truth in drug cases if they are asked if they are a cop. He added that many interviews on a daily basis are already highly documented because officers are required to wear body cameras.
Winfield countered that protections are needed in interrogations, adding, “Body cameras aren’t always turned on when they’re supposed to be.”
Resolution on witches
In a high-profile issue on a busy day, the committee also approved a resolution that apologizes on behalf of the state for the long-ago convictions of witches in colonial Connecticut. Overall, 34 people were indicted and 11 were executed centuries ago.
Sen. John Kissel, an Enfield Republican, agreed with Democrats on the issue, while other Republicans were opposed.
“I’ve been to Salem almost every year for the past 25 to 30 years,” Kissel said, noting the famous trials of 1692. “I’m going to lay the blame on King James the 6th of Scotland.”
“Today is a day that we can right that wrong,” Kissel said.
Sex offender registry
In an age of second chances, lawmakers also voted Monday for a bill that some sex offenders who have been rehabilitated for decades should no longer be required to be on the state’s public registry.
Advocates said that convicted criminals who were placed on the list should be removed from the registry if they have remained crime-free over the past 25 years. The bill would apply only to those who were convicted before Oct. 1, 1998, which includes more than 800 who were grandfathered onto the list without knowing the full implications of being on a public registry for life. The list was created in 1999, and supporters of Senate Bill 1194 said they should no longer be required to register.
Fishbein said that a portion of the bill “rights an injustice” that some sex offenders were placed on the registry even though the registry had not yet been created at the time.
Scott Raymond, now a 60-year-old grandfather, testified that he was placed on the registry after he pleaded guilty and agreed to three years’ probation in 1993 — before the registry was created. He said he had been named “employee of the month” multiple times at a previous job as a bartender but recently has been unable to obtain a job at a Connecticut casino due to his past conviction and placement on the registry.
Traffic stops by police
Lawmakers also approved a measure, known as Senate Bill 1195, that would prevent police from stopping cars for some low-level, secondary traffic violations alone in an attempt to reduce hazardous and aggressive driving behavior. Speeding and running red lights are primary violations, for example, while failing to wear a seatbelt is a secondary violation among more than 600 different infractions under state law.
Howard noted recently that 2022 was the deadliest year on record in Connecticut for traffic fatalities at the same time that traffic stops by police have been down by about 125,000 from their peak, according to state records.
The point of the bill, he said Monday, is not to reduce traffic stops but he added that police need discretion to make stops.
“There has been a 65% reduction in state police vehicle stops” in recent years, Howard said, adding that traffic stops sometimes lead to gun seizures and fewer car crashes. “Increased traffic stops will lead to a decrease in traffic crashes. I talk to a lot of police officers.”
Connecticut law covers a huge range of violations, including that a windshield must be “entirely unobstructed” – meaning that drivers with an EZ Pass on the windshield or dice hanging from the rearview mirror are technically in violation of the law, officials said. Many of those drivers, however, are not stopped for those violations.
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com