Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama

January 21, 2009

To go along with the hangovers from yesterday’s Inauguration parties, both in Washington and Connecticut, the legislative Public Health Committee just raised a bill that would force certain businesses to allow people with digestive problems, such as colitis, to use their bathrooms in an emergency.
Similar legislation passed out of the committee last year but didn’t get much further. Today’s committee meeting featured rookie Rep. Auden Grogins, D-Bridgeport, a lawyer, wondering how broad the law could be.
“As a practical matter, whether this is something the Legislature should do, I have my doubts,” said Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, committee co-chairman. Rep. Linda Gentile, D-Ansonia, said the proposal would be “a narrow law” for people with “distinct digestive disorders.”
The act of raising the bill means committee members will explore the concept.

January 20, 2009

Gov. Rell this afternoon is going to announce that the incredible rising budget deficit continues to inflate, even though the General Assembly has met twice in recent months to turn down spending, most recently last week’s $131-million adjustment.
The majority Democrats threw some added spending in last week’s bill and Sens. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport and Anthony Musto, D-Trumbull, said that in troubled times, lower-income people need added help.
.So they voted to shift $3.9 million for affordable-housing rents affordable. The legislation will support 368 elderly and family rental units in Bridgeport and keep rents from rising.
“People across Connecticut and in Bridgeport are worried about losing their homes,” Gomes said in a statement. “We had an opportunity to make sure that hundreds of people in Bridgeport did not see their rents go up and would not lose their homes.”

Thursday January 15, 2009

During the fulminating arguments over the reappointment of a controversial Superior Court judge last night, Senate President Pro Tem Don Williams, D-Brooklyn, sounded as if he had been transported to a stump speech in a campaign for governor.
Or even a run for a judicial nomination for himself, although in Connecticut we don’t elect judges. We launder them through the Judicial Selection Committee, then the governor and the House and Senate leaders do some horse trading before they’re officially nominated.
Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele ended up breaking the 18-18 tie and Patricia Swords of Storrs got another eight-year term, over the opposition of many Democrats including Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport. Most criticism against her included charges of a pro-prosecutor bias. She is a former prosecutor.
Williams, who like every third legislator in the Capitol is a lawyer, voted in favor of Swords.
“Let us put down a rule today,” Williams said, waving his hands like a conductor, “that we will disregard that unfair slide into tyranny when we’re talking about something as so important as the independence of our Judicial Branch.”

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Well, his first mistake since assuming the leadership of a huge 114-member caucus that’s staring down the barrel of a multi-billion-dollar deficit.
During the debate this morning on judicial nominees, Donovan announced the vote on the reappointment of Senior Supreme Court Justice William J. Sullivan as if it were the “consent calendar” of unanimous agreement. Oops, wrong legislation.
Meanwhile, it’s 3:30 now. Lawmakers have been here since 10 or earlier and they might, just might, get to budget revisions by 6.

Tuesday January 13, 2009

And the Blogster takes time out to recall that the core of the criminal justice system is to let the defendant confront their accuser.
So it’s disappointing, in a delicious way, that the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association gave members of the legislative Judiciary Committee inch-thick books of mostly ANONYMOUS critiques of judges up for reappointment today.
Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford,co-chairman of the committee, said he personally puts “little or no credence” in anonymous reports. “We have no idea who’s making therse comments,” Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, the other co-chairman, said at the start of the meeting.
Edward J. Gavin, president of the CCDLA, said in a cover letter that the mostly anonymous summations were all made by members of the Waterbury-based organization.
“Although a few attorneys have put their names to the comments, most have asked to remain anonymous,” Gavin wrote. He said the comments, just a few sentences on each nominee, “remain unchanged except for the correction of spelling and grammatical errors.”
Highly educated defense lawyers, who can’t spell or fix their own grammar? THERE’s a scandal. Should the Blogster open a consulting firm on the side and offer sentence-construction pointers for his own billable hours?
Here’s one nameless report on Superior Court Judge John R. Downey of Redding, who was sitting in Stamford until he decided last week to withdraw his name from consideration for another eight-year term. Downey, you may remember, was the target of criticism in recent years when he said that immigrants are not allowed the same rights at US citizens.
The first came from a lawyer who was attempting to get a restraining order in a domestic case after a man with a gun collection threatened a woman.
“Imagine my surprise,” the defense attorney wrote, “when Downey remarked to my complaint about not doing so ‘as far as I know, the Second Amendment is still the law.”
Another: “I may be one of the few but I think Downey is a good judge and has been dealt a raw deal.”
I guess that’s endorsing with faint damnation.
On Bridgeport Superior Court Judge James P. Ginocchio: “This guy is out of control and he is a nut job.”
On Associate Supreme Court Justice Joette Katz of Fairfield: “Justice Katz stands out for her clear writing style and for her bravery in continuing to oppose the death penalty year after year.”.
It’s about 2 p.m. now and the committee started its public hearing on nominees four hours ago. The most-controversial judge, Senior Supreme Court Justice William “Tocco” Sullivan, has yet to confront the panel, but the sparks should fly over the memories of the embarrassing episode from a couple years back when he delayed the release of a high-court decision to help another justice succeed him as chief justice.
Here’s what one defense lawyer, also faceless, wrote about Sully: “He should have known better than to take things to the limit because he has done damage to the judiciary, however he should be reappointed because the good far outweighs the bad.”
THERE’s a standard in judicial achievement..

Monday January 12, 2009

It’s 5 p.m., so it’s time for a mundane news release from Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s PR staff. Being concerned about the homeless as the big cold front heads east, is laudable, but shouldn’t she be setting up Kleenex stations around the state if she were REALLY concerned?

Here’s the release:

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today she has directed state agencies to work closely with municipalities and community providers to ensure there is adequate shelter space and priority given to emergency heating oil deliveries during the potentially dangerous frigid temperatures forecast for the state later this week.
“The freezing weather headed our way poses an extreme danger to the homeless and others who depend on vital social services,” Governor Rell said. “We need to take precautions now to safeguard vulnerable citizens and that includes safe, warm shelter and beds and sufficient fuel to warm their homes. This is more than just being warm and comfortable on a cold winter night. It is a matter of public safety.”
With temperatures expected to linger in the single digits and teens by week’s end, Governor Rell is holding a conference call Tuesday with the state departments of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Public Safety and Social Services as well as municipal leaders and the Red Cross to identify existing shelters and overflow space.
She is encouraging municipalities to open up local emergency shelters in advance of the cold weather and is directing emergency management officials to work towns and cities to provide any additional help if necessary. The Governor also has directed the Connecticut National Guard to have 10 armories ready for use as shelters if needed.
Under the Governor’s direction, the DSS will immediately canvass its 45 state-funded shelters to ensure they have adequately planned for any increase in clients and can refer those they cannot accommodate to shelters that can.
“I am also requiring the Department of Social Service to notify all community action centers to make sure those residents who need an emergency delivery of fuel oil get it first and get it fast this weekend,” Governor Rell said.
A list of open shelters and heating oil assistance programs are available by calling the free information line 2-1-1.
“We should not forget anyone this week. I am urging all Connecticut citizens to check on the welfare of their elderly neighbors, family members and others who may need help,” the Governor said.
(Cold weather safety tips attached)
Cold Weather Safety
· Wear several layers of not too tight or too bulky clothing. Always wear a hat and gloves.
· Consume hot and easily digestible food and beverages with higher calories, like hot milk, soup, noodles and rice.

· Remain indoors or in places with sunlight. Continue with usual daily activities, but do more exercise to generate heat, improve blood circulation, and maintain flexibility of joints.

· Exercise care and concern for the elderly. If you happen to know of a single elder living alone or with chronic illnesses, give him/her a call or pay a visit.

Friday January 9, 2009

And as we head toward sunset on the third day of the 21-week legislative session, the Blogster looks out his fifth-floor window above Bushnell Park to watch the start of the nightly rendezvous of crows gathering in the old oak trees on the east side of the Capitol grounds.
It’s 4 p.m. now, but by dark thousands of the squawking beasts will literally fill the trees, then eventually make their way over to the north lawn for their evening rest. In recent years the winter “roost,” as it’s called, has shifted from the Twain House and Museum on Farmington Avenue, to various other locations.
Finally, appropriately, they’re at the Capitol, adding the proper solemnity to the state’s financial problems, which could become the public-policy equivalent of Alfred Hitchcock’s ornithological mayhem.

January 7, 2009
It’s about 9:30 and people from around the state are braving the icy rain. The highways are remarkably clear, if wet and the biggest traffic delay might be the confrontation on the Capitol grounds, as families of lawmakers, here for the first-day festivities, are met by Capitol Police who are informing them they CAN’T park on the grounds. No, the stardust of legislative office does not sparkle on relatives, who are now trying to get into the limited spaces in the garage next to the Legislative Office Building.
Today’s the first day that the Capitol mail is functioning, so the Blogster just received his first few dozen proposals for new laws.
Rep. Tom Drew, D-Fairfield, has submitted the annual controversial traffic-camera bill.
“An Act Concerning Photo Enforcement Laws” says that the commissioner of Transportation “shall develop and implement a program for the installation of traffic cameras at major intersections and at such other locations determined by the commissioner to be in need of additional enforcement activities.”
This proposal, which could be a big money maker, will divide lawmakers into those those who speed with self assurance and entitlement and those who don’t. Those who claim it’s a violation of privacy are sorted into the former camp.
When you run a red light or speed, you should lose your so-called privacy.Could this be the year when potential revenue trumps previous arguments that have buried the proposal in the past?
Tune in, because the June 3 adjournment date is a mere 21 weeks away.