Public disputes concerning sentencing, incarceration, prison conditions, probation and parole, reentry, and the policies and institutions that govern how the criminal justice system treats people who are charged, convicted or formerly incarcerated.
Published coverage on this page: 4 cases · 1 statement. Statements are ordered newest first.
Texas DPS arrested Austin council candidate Misael Ramos on a riot charge over the September 20 protest after an ICE shooting. DPS says video shows him moving barricades and sandbags. His attorney disputes that the protest was a riot.
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Role at the time: Connecticut state senator (R-Enfield); co-sponsor of the 1995 law
Statement summary
Kissel, a co-sponsor of the 1995 law who remains the top Senate Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said taxpayers covered the cost of a person's incarceration and that requiring repayment on a reasonable schedule is a reasonable policy.
“The taxpayers footed the bill. They didn’t do anything wrong. And knowing that one has to pay the state back a reasonable sum on a regular basis is not a bad policy”
What this label refers to
Kissel argues the underlying practice of requiring repayment is justified because taxpayers funded the incarceration and did nothing wrong.
Alexander T. Taubes is a civil-rights and criminal-defense attorney in solo practice in New Haven, Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale Law School. His practice includes police-brutality, wrongful-death and post-conviction cases, and he has taught as a visiting clinical lecturer at Yale Law School.
1 case and 1 statement
Lisa Foster is a retired California Superior Court judge who co-founded the Fines and Fees Justice Center in 2018 after directing the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Access to Justice. She advises courts and policymakers nationally on reforming fines, fees and other monetary sanctions in the justice system.
1 case and 1 statement
Tracy DeSenti is a Hamden, Connecticut resident and addiction counselor. She and her late husband, Billy DeSenti, were both previously incarcerated in Connecticut. After her husband's death in 2023, the state pursued a lien against his estate under Connecticut's cost-of-incarceration law.
1 case and 1 statement
Eleanor Michael is a deputy commissioner at the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services.
1 case and 1 statement
Dan Barrett is the legal director of the ACLU of Connecticut. He previously directed litigation at the ACLU of Vermont and clerked for U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in Connecticut. His litigation and advocacy work has focused on police accountability, privacy, racial profiling and First Amendment rights.
1 case and 1 statement
Misael Ramos is an Austin community organizer and neighborhood association president. He ran for the Austin City Council's District 1 seat in 2022 and is a candidate for it in 2026.
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Wilber Rafael Garces Perez is a Venezuelan national who entered the United States in 2024 through the CBP One process and worked as a DoorDash delivery driver in Austin, Texas.
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Chief of the Conviction Integrity Unit, Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
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District Attorney of Philadelphia, elected in 2017.
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Mike Collins is a Republican U.S. representative from Georgia's 10th Congressional District and the Republican nominee for the 2026 United States Senate election in Georgia.
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United States senator from Georgia.
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Natasha Tosado is a resident of Hamden, Connecticut, a licensed pharmacy technician and an addiction recovery coach. Her fifteen-year-old son, Jayson Negron, was fatally shot by a Bridgeport police officer in 2017. Tosado was incarcerated from 2016 to 2018 and later joined a federal lawsuit challenging Connecticut's cost-of-incarceration law.
1 case and 1 statement
