1) It’s true that the CT’s current prison pop are serving time for serious felonies. It is also true that this pop is aging. It is also true that this pop is unhealthy, lacking proper care. It is also true that this pop has increased mental health needs that were never addressed https://twitter.com/kelan_lyons/status/1381939848232251396

2) It’s also true that this pop had poor educational outcomes. It’s also true that some of this pop can barely read. It’s also true that some in this pop lost loved ones to violence. It is also true that many in this pop have also been victims of crimes.

3) It’s also true that they are likely parents while incarcerated. It’s also true for some their parents were incarcerated while they were children. It is also true that people in prisons experience harm by the very system that aims to rehabilitate them.

4) It’s also true that the majority of this pop come from CT’s most racially segregated, under funded, and poorest cities. It is also true that these same cities continue to bear the brunt of racist policies and budgets that set people to fail.

5) It’s also true that prison and jail utilization is an incomplete picture if we are not analyzing daily “prison churn” at the front end of the system. It is also true that police hold enormous power b/c in CT they file charges and determine initially if people are locked up.

6) It’s also true that Governor Lamont holds the power to reduce Connecticut’s racial disparities in his prison system. He can get started by charging BOPP to kickstart its commutations process and focus on Black and Latinx long timers who should get the opportunity to go home.

7) It’s also true that any discussion about decarceration is incomplete without a conversation on reentry and reinvestment in communities and people harmed by racist policies AND in committing to the belief that we must invest in the futures of people who have harmed others.

Great reporting by @Kelan_Lyons on why this moment is important for Connecticut.