Bills would cut in half sentences for those who suffered domestic violence

Nicole Zappone; New Britain Herald; Mar. 19, 2025

NEW BRITAIN — Many state legislators threw their support behind legislation that would cut in half the sentences of people who are domestic violence survivors and who committed a crime related to their domestic violence abuse.

In these bills, legislation would consider whether a person getting court-ordered mental health treatment would also need court-ordered domestic violence treatment.

Both bills received public hearings Monday before the Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 1502 states, “An act concerning sentence reduction or relief for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking” would allow prosecutors, judges and parole boards to consider if evidence shows a person’s domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking was a contributing factor in the commission of their crime.

If any of those were a contributing factor, their prison sentence times would typically range from three to 60 years and be cut in half. Under these new bills, those who are already in prison under such circumstances and have served at least half their sentence could become eligible for immediate parole.

New York, Oklahoma and Illinois have already enacted similar laws, while Massachusetts is considering a similar bill.

The second bill, Senate Bill 1505, states, “An act allowing court discretion to add a family violence component to the pretrial supervised diversionary program for persons with psychiatric disabilities requires the Court Support Services Division to determine if a person has the capacity to participate in domestic violence treatment — either in concurrence with or following the completion of mental health treatment — in cases involving a family violence crime.”

If the court finds evidence of any of the contributing factors, it must depart from conventional sentencing guidelines for the applicable offense and apply a penalty that is half the normal.

The Board of Pardon and Parole would also have the option of considering that same evidence for people who are already incarcerated and have served at least half of their sentence and would consider them for parole at their discretion, as long as the release is “not incompatible with the welfare of society.”

“We urge your support of Senate Bill 1502, which helps prevent further harm to criminalized survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and stalking by ensuring that their victimization can be considered when determining a fair sentence for crimes that they have committed,” said Zahria Cooper of the Prudence Crandall Center.

The center provides safety planning, shelter, court-based advocacy and transportation services to domestic violence survivors in Berlin, Bristol, Burlington, Kensington, New Britain, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Terryville.

“Unfortunately, for some survivors, the harm does not end when the abuse stops,” Cooper said. “They may become entangled in the criminal justice system for offenses that were a direct result of their victimization – whether through coercion, self-defense or survival-related crimes. Connecticut’s current laws do not always allow the impact of these experiences to be fully considered at sentencing, leading to prison terms and legal consequences that needlessly compound a survivor’s suffering.”