The state defendants defended incarceration-cost recovery in court, arguing that it compensates the government rather than imposes an excessive fine
Office of the Connecticut Attorney GeneralCounsel representing the Connecticut state defendants
The state defendants defended incarceration-cost recovery in court, arguing that it compensates the government rather than imposes an excessive fine. They also sought dismissal on standing and jurisdictional grounds.
“remedial and therefore not fines”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Should Connecticut collect per diem incarceration fees from former inmates' settlements and windfalls?
Connecticut has charged incarcerated people a daily fee for the cost of their imprisonment since 1995, and state law lets the Department of Administrative Services collect on that debt for up to 20 years after release, including by taking up to half of a lottery win, inheritance or lawsuit settlement, or a lien against a deceased person's estate. A Connecticut Mirror investigation published September 27, 2026 found the daily rate has reached $347, that a year in prison can produce a debt of nearly $127,000, and that the state collected about $21 million this way from 2020 to mid-2026 from hundreds of formerly incarcerated people, including money from wrongful-death and police-brutality settlements. The legislature narrowed the law in 2022 and 2024, and a federal lawsuit led the state to withdraw its claims against its four named plaintiffs by October 2024, but collection from others has continued. The dispute is whether Connecticut should be allowed to collect this debt from former inmates' settlements, inheritances and windfalls at all, not whether any individual's specific bill was calculated correctly.
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The state defendants defended incarceration-cost recovery in court, arguing that it compensates the government rather than imposes an excessive fine. They also sought dismissal on standing and jurisdictional grounds.
Before the quotation
State defendants asked a federal court to dismiss a challenge to Connecticut's incarceration-cost collection law.
After the quotation
The defendants also raised standing and jurisdictional objections to the lawsuit.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Defends the state's recovery of incarceration costs in the litigation.
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The Dispute Index. "The state defendants defended incarceration-cost recovery in court, arguing that it compensates the government rather than imposes an excessive fine". First published: 2026-10-01. Last updated: 2026-10-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/4278-the-state-defendants-defended-incarceration-cost-recovery-in