By Chris Powell Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 1975, turns 50 this year, the legacy of Gov. Ella T. Grasso, who vigorously advocated it, and the Watergate scandal of the previous two years, which proclaimed the danger of secret power. The FOI law made Connecticut a leader in accountability in government. The lawContinue reading “Open government at 50: Principle isn’t practice”
Tag Archives: Journal Inquirer
‘Rubber rooms’ in schools: Where are all the messed-up kids coming from?
By Chris Powell A member of Enfield’s Board of Education is sore that the school system has eliminated a hundred staff positions as well as sports for many students but is increasing the number of school “seclusion rooms” at a cost of about $4,000 each. The rooms, whose walls are padded, are used for theContinue reading “‘Rubber rooms’ in schools: Where are all the messed-up kids coming from?”
Prisons aren’t the only agency that could use an ‘ombudsman’
By Chris Powell With their residents locked in and the public locked out, Connecticut’s prisons are inevitably far more secretive than other agencies of government. Combine this secrecy with the disdain for prisoners and the decline of journalism and prisons become especially susceptible to malfeasance, misconduct, and abuse of power. Criminal justice in Connecticut isContinue reading “Prisons aren’t the only agency that could use an ‘ombudsman’”
Chris Powell column 