HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—Activists and lawmakers are pushing back against Governor Ned Lamont's veto of the Protect Act by asking the legislature to override the move.
Stop Solitary CT, legislators and other advocates rallied on the steps of the State Capitol Wednesday morning urging for a vote to override the governor's veto of the bill.
Barbara Fair with Stop Solitary CT thanked the legislature for getting the Protect Act, which limits solitary confinement and other abusive practices toward incarcerated people, to the governor's desk.
Fair called Lamont's move to veto a bill that passed with bipartisan support "unacceptable," claiming that Lamont is, "obviously having a power trip going on."
"The legislators, the families, all the stories that we heard about the horrors of solitary. He decided, with the stroke of his pen, he was just going to nullify all those voices," Fair said.
State Representative Robyn Porter (D) agreed with Fair, saying that there is a power play happening within the governor's office and the state capitol.
"The governor said, on more than one occasion, that he was going to sign this bill. He lied," she said as the crowd shouted in agreement with her, "He lied. He vetoed the bill."
Alongside his decision to veto the bill, Lamont issued an executive order that placed some limits on solitary confinement.
However, activists with Stop Solitary CT say it falls far short of the bill since it provides fewer protections for the incarcerated, it places no limits on certain restraints that the Protect Act had and it offers only a temporary protection that the Protect Act would make permanent.
Refusing to give up on the fight to end solitary confinement in Connecticut's prisons, Fair, Porter and other activists said they will not be waiting until next legislative session to fight for this bill.