The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release
Barbara FairStop Solitary CT organizer
The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release.
“Described statement (committee summary): The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release.”
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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Original text
About this source
Connecticut's Judiciary Committee voted to advance HB 5390, which proposed repealing incarceration-cost liability. The proposal did not become the full repeal advocates sought. The committee recorded Jess Zaccagnino urging abolition of prison debt, describing it as unjust and harmful to families. The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release. The committee recorded Lisa Foster urging repeal, arguing that incarceration fees are regressive and undermine reentry. The Division of Criminal Justice supported ending incarceration fees to help people return successfully to their communities.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Connecticut's Judiciary Committee summarized testimony on HB 5390.
After the quotation
The report attributed support for repeal to Fair.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Rejects continued fee collection.
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- The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release
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The Dispute Index. "The committee recorded Barbara Fair supporting repeal because incarceration liens add an unjust burden after release". First published: 2026-10-01. Last updated: 2026-10-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/4296-the-committee-recorded-barbara-fair-supporting-repeal-because