HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A bill that attempts to reduce the number of people detained in Connecticut jails because they can’t afford to post bail has cleared the House of Representatives.
First proposed by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the legislation passed Saturday on a bipartisan 88-62 vote. It now moves to the Senate for further action.
The bill limits the circumstances in which a court can impose a monetary bail for anyone charged with a misdemeanor that is not a family violence crime. It also shortens how long defendants charged with a misdemeanor and who cannot make bail must wait for a bail review hearing.
Malloy says there are hundreds of individuals currently locked up in state jails “simply because they are poor” and not because they are threat to society.
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