Criminalizing Resisting Correctional Officers (S 1073)

We strongly opposed legislation which would make it unlawful for a person in the custody of the department of corrections to use "any force or weapon to resist a lawful request or directive." We argued that this broad restriction could be misused to punish prisoners, parolees or probationers under questionable circumstances. It is already a crime for any of these individuals to assault a DCO employee, so at best, the enactment of this law would allow for the double charging of individuals for the same offense, putting pressure on them to plead even if they believe they are innocent of the charge. Additionally, in every circumstance governed by this bill, a prisoner would be subjected to a potentially severe administrative punitive consequences for using any force against a correctional officer. This legislation died in committee.