When Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus met during the final days of the 2024 General Assembly, the goal was to communicate their differences on the process to appoint the state’s first independent prison watchdog and find out if there was a way to move forward.
They left with a handshake agreement: Lamont would withdraw his controversial nomination of Hilary Carpenter, a career public defender opposed by advocates and lawmakers. The governor and the caucus would work to find consensus on an interim candidate. And they would collaborate to identify an official nominee to place before the legislature, where a majority vote in both chambers is required for final approval.
But still, there was an important perspective missing from the conversation: that of people in the state’s prisons.
For roughly two years, they have patiently awaited the appointment of the correctional ombudsperson, but an absence of clarity, missed deadlines and objections to decision-making have made it of no avail. Now, with the new agreement in place to reach a conclusion, incarcerated people’s desire for involvement has grown more apparent.
The Connecticut Mirror reached out to nearly a dozen people in prisons across the state and asked them a series of questions about the process to appoint an ombudsperson — the type of candidate they would like to see, examples of problems they would like them to investigate, and their feelings about the delays.
They expressed a desire for a candidate who would advocate on their behalf. They said they wanted someone serious about investigating, among other things, their treatment by correctional staff and access to medical care. And they voiced frustration with the fact that none of these things have come to fruition, despite the law governing the position having passed two years ago.
When asked to respond to the concerns and thoughts reflected in the incarcerated people’s responses to the CT Mirror’s questions, Julia Bergman, the chief spokesperson for Lamont’s office, said in a statement that the Office of the Correction Ombuds’ duty is “to hear, see and respond to the concerns of the incarcerated population and work with them to address specific issues.”
“The Ombuds should identify when those issues are systemic and work with stakeholders — the agency, legislators, advocates — to recommend policy and practice changes to improve safety for those in the facility and success during and upon reentry,” Bergman said. “Governor Lamont looks forward to appointing someone to this role on an interim basis soon.”
In separate remarks, Andrius Banevicius, a spokesperson for the Department of Correction, said the agency believes the ombudsperson should strive for fairness and impartiality and “not simply side with the agency’s rationale for its actions, nor should they indiscriminately side with those who have grievances.” The statement also noted the importance of thorough investigations and recommendations based on evidence and facts.
“With that in mind,” Banevicius said, “the Department of Correction welcomes any opportunity to improve the existing conditions of supervision as well as increasing the potential for successful reintegration of returning citizens.”
As for incarcerated people, these are some of their responses, which have been condensed and edited for clarity.
Hilary Carpenter, Gov. Ned Lamont’s first choice to serve in an independent prison oversight role, speaks with prison reform advocates at the Legislative Office Building on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Hartford. Credit: Jaden Edison / CT Mirror
Why, if at all, is the ombudsman position important to you?
Deborah Giaquinto, 51, York Correctional: “The ombudsman position is important because there is absolutely no one, and I mean no one, that actually seems to care what happens to inmates from our health care to what we are fed or what little help we are given when it comes to dealing with any outside issues. The ombudsman will be able to assist us without leaning in the prison’s favor.”
Gregory Johnson, 58, MacDougall-Walker Correctional: “The ombudsman will be able to investigate prisoners’ complaints and remedy issues, and if need be, take disciplinary or other action.”
Ahmaad Lane, 48, Brooklyn Correctional: “The ombudsman position is important to me because I do recall when the last time we had one, and since then, the CT DOC ran amuck. When there is no oversight, tyranny thrives, especially when bureaucrats are involved.”
Scott Sheppard, 36, York Correctional: “This position allows an elected individual to oversee the Department of Correction. An outside official can make a determination if something is being done unjustly to an incarcerated individual. As an incarcerated person, I have personally experienced some medical neglect, as well as discrimination.”
Andres Sosa, 45, Cheshire Correctional: “The ombudsman position is important to me because my life can depend on it — my care and wellbeing — that includes medical care, protection from abuse, food and safety. I will have a voice who speaks for me so that I can count as a human being … the ombudsman will give a face and name to my inmate number.”
King Tislam, 44, Brooklyn Correctional: “The proper representation for prisoners is significant. On a daily basis, the wheels on the bus don’t go ’round and ’round as smoothly in here as the staff would lead you to believe. A host of issues concerning and pertaining to inmates’ physical health, mental health, emotional health and spiritual health is in question consistently. No one listens to us.”
Timothy Townsend Jr., 44, MacDougall-Walker Correctional: “The ombudsman position would be vital in assisting prisoners with investigating the department’s practice of waging mental, physical and emotional abuses upon the prisoner population, because thus far the DOC has been allowed to police themselves, and jailhouse lawyers, such as myself, can only do so much to effectuate change and can only endure so much retaliation.”
Eugene Walker, 38, Cheshire Correctional: “We need an outside source that can be fair and impartial. Often we have to deal with the code of ‘You have to back your officer up even if he is in the wrong’ mentality. If we have to keep bringing our issues to another correctional officer, they will keep burying and hiding our problems and washing away any hope of receiving adequate treatment.”
What do you feel should be the role of the incoming ombudsman?
Giaquinto: “I would love to see someone who is passionate about the rights of the incarcerated regardless of their crime. I am not my crime, I am someone who made a mistake, a bad choice. The person’s crime does not define them.”
Johnson: “A role that seeks out corruption. It doesn’t matter if it’s a female or male, as long as the job is done.”
Lane: “In this case, to be an official who knows the CT DOC bylaws, administrative directives and the state and federal constitutions in which governs the DOC. And when one of the inmates makes a complaint against the DOC, said official will thoroughly investigate the complaint and report said violations truthfully without bias.”
Sheppard: “We need a person who will take matters seriously, in a timely manner, and is compassionate to all humanity. Too often, people are too quick to think that people in prison don’t deserve to be treated as human. They believe people in prison are not deemed ‘fit’ for society, and so we don’t deserve humane treatment or we don’t deserve to have rights.”
Sosa: “The ombudsperson shall be the kind of person who identifies her or himself with the inmates she or he comes in contact with, who has experience or knowledge of the pain and suffering of the inmates entrusted to the ombudsperson’s care and the inmates’ families … and who will provide remedy to the aggrieved inmates by due course of law.”
Tislam: “I want the ombudsman to play the part of a person that’s fair, firm and consistent on both sides of the coin.”
Townsend Jr.: “I would expect the ombudsman to be a prison reform activist. Anything less is unacceptable, because prison reform activists got prisoners the PROTECT Act, of which the ombudsman position was created.”
Walker: “The role of the next ombudsman should be to be willing to figure out what are the systemic failures in the treatment of prisoners and put safeguards in place to eradicate them, and to set the tone at first by letting the DOC know that he or she takes her role serious and will not be just another band aid.”
What do you want the governor and members of the legislature to keep in mind when deciding who the ombudsman will be?
Giaquinto: “I hope they appoint someone who is actually going to advocate for the inmate instead of putting in someone that will brush our issues aside like they have been doing for years.”
Johnson: “The ombudsman must not be a correctional officer.”
Lane: “I want the governor and his agents to” recognize the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Sheppard: “Keep rehabilitation as the main objective.”
Sosa: “That inmates are humans and when the founding fathers created this nation, the inmates were kept on their minds.”
Tislam: “Just because a person had a career as a public defender doesn’t qualify them to make decisions over the people that were convicted in their courtrooms. For some, we use our time trying to rehabilitate ourselves. And it’s a genuine journey. Keep in mind that the ombudsman position should be awarded to the best doer and not the best speaker.”
Townsend Jr.: “There should never have been the prerequisite for candidates to meet with DOC officials prior to the governor making his final decision. That’s not reform. That’s the same autocracy that we’re seeking reform from.”
Walker: “The prison population is a marginalized and disenfranchised community and DOC staff benefit from the knowledge of us being the unheard voices in society that has nobody to come to our defense. Most prisoners will come into corrections and leave more traumatized and desensitized than they were when they came in.”
Barbara Fair answers a question from the Correction Advisory Committee during a hearing to select an ombudsperson on January 11, 2024. Fair was one of three finalists for the position. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror
How have the delays and uncertainties made you feel?
Giaquinto: “The delays make me feel as if it’s just a stall tactic until they find someone who will benefit them instead of helping the inmates.”
Johnson: “An ombudsman should’ve long been hired to address these issues. But nothing happened before. The time is now.”
Lane: “The delays of this ombudsman position being filled has caused me to receive even more violations by the hands of CT DOC and its agents, because the only voice I have is my own and my only resort is the administrative remedy coordinator, in which is the fox guarding the hen house.”
Sheppard: “This delay means more suffering for those who are not receiving proper medical care. It’s also costing the state more money in the long run when medical issues are being neglected. Health deteriorates, and the state has to fork over more money to fix a bigger problem that could’ve been fixed initially. Incarcerated people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. If we want to see change in the community, we need to start within the prison system.”
Sosa: “The delays and uncertainties regarding the ombudsperson process just made me feel exactly how I think they feel about me, like I’m worth nothing to them.”
Tislam: “I feel no kind of way. You only feel some kind of way when you feel a change or a shift in direction.”
Townsend Jr.: “I’m extremely proud of our Democratic legislature, and in no way do I fault our legislature for having the courage to resist the governor’s/commissioner’s choice for ombudsman, because Hilary Carpenter wasn’t the right fit for ombudsman. So I’m willing to wait a little longer as long as the interim choice and permanent selection is a career ‘prison reform activist’ like Barbara Fair or similar.”
Walker: “The delays and uncertainties are not at all surprising to me, because I have no hope in the system based on all the trauma I had to endure.”