Gov. Ned Lamont said Tuesday he plans to convene a special session of the legislature “very soon” to address police accountability and transparency concerns that have been thrust to the forefront following the death of George Floyd last month in Minneapolis.
In a letter to legislative leaders, Lamont said the movement spurred by Floyd’s death “require[s] us to seize this moment and work together now to enact measures that will ensure our communities of color feel safe and have confidence that law enforcement and our criminal justice system as a whole treat all our citizens fairly and equally.”
Lamont’s letter did not specify a date when the legislature would reconvene. The regular session of the General Assembly ended May 6 but lawmakers had been absent from the Capitol since mid-March when it was closed due to the coronavirus.
Floyd, who was black, died on Memorial Day after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes while attempting to take him into custody on a forgery charge. His death has led to protests across Connecticut and the country and calls for widespread police reform.
Ideas under consideration by Connecticut lawmakers include requiring all cities and towns to outfit their police officers with body cameras, stiffer penalties for police who are found guilty of excessive use of force and changes to state statute that outlines when police may use deadly force.
The special session would also address expanding absentee ballot access for the November election, Lamont wrote. While he has issued an executive order allowing all voters to use absentee ballots for the upcoming August primaries he told the leaders his emergency powers are set to expire Sept. 9 so expanding absentee ballots for the November election would require legislative action.
“I have directed my Chief of Staff to contact each of you immediately to commence discussions that will result in proposed legislation that I am hopeful all of us can support,” Lamont wrote to the Democratic and Republican leaders of the state House and Senate. “Once we have agreed upon a package that has sufficient support in both chambers, I will issue a call for a special session that is tailored to specifically address that legislation.”
Lamont’s letter came after Democratic leaders wrote him earlier Tuesday requesting a special session to address police accountability, expanded absentee ballot access and a cap on the price of insulin.
The League of Women Voters of Connecticut and state Rep. Tammy Exum, a West Hartford Democrat, both praised Lamont’s announcement.
“We have huge issues to tackle and a lot of hard work ahead, but that’s what our constituents elected us to do. I am ready!” Exum tweeted Tuesday evening.
For the second day, Connecticut faith leaders gathered outside the state Capitol to fast and call on lawmakers to convene a special session. Bishop John Selders, who organized the fast with his group Moral Monday CT, said they will continue to fast daily until the special session starts and waiting until later this summer or even July is unacceptable.
“Quite frankly, that’s just too late,” Selders said Tuesday morning. “It’s too late to be coming back into session when in fact the citizens of this state are in the streets right now. There is quite a bit of civil unrest. Our young people have taken to the streets in numbers we haven’t seen in recent memory for sure.”
Activists and the ACLU of Connecticut have pushed for more aggressive reforms, including some calls to defund state and local police departments to divert those resources to other non-police social and community programs.
Lamont balked at that demand Monday, saying he would not defund police and instead supports greater focus on additional training and on “community liaison” policing that bring more social services groups into the daily work of officers.
But ALCU leaders equated some of the suggested body camera and training measures with the “thoughts and prayers” offered after mass shootings that are derided by advocates of policy changes to prevent violence.
“If politicians want to back their statements up to support Black lives, they need to take action NOW to dismantle the systems that allow police to police themselves & to divest from policing,” the ACLU said Tuesday.
Staff writer Zach Murdock contributed to this report.
Russell Blair can be reached at rblair@courant.com.
