Connecticut
is the Only Remaining State in the Nation to Persist in "Barbaric"
Practice, ACLU Says
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2006
CONTACT: Roger C. Vann, ACLU-CT (203) 500-5190, rvann@acluct.org
Jody
Kent, ACLU National Prison Project (202) 834-3903, jkent@aclu.org
HARTFORD, CT -- The American Civil Liberties
Union of Connecticut and the ACLU's National Prison Project today urged
Governor Jodi Rell to end the use of canines to control prisoners, a barbaric
practice that calls to mind the notorious photos of snarling dogs used against
prisoners at Abu Ghraib. (Read Letter To Governor Rell_Dogs)
The ACLU's call came one week
after the Connecticut Department of Correction stated in a letter to the ACLU that
it will continue its use of dogs to extract disobedient prisoners from prison
cells, making Connecticut the only state in the nation to continue
using this demeaning practice. (Read Response From Comm. Lantz_Dogs)
"Every other state in the nation
has figured out how to manage prisoners without the use of attack dogs," said
Margaret Winter of the ACLU National Prison Project.
"Properly trained correctional officers should never have to turn to
such drastic and dangerous practices."
In a recent report about the use
of attack dogs on prisoners in the United States, Human Rights Watch revealed
that five states currently authorize the use of dogs for cell extractions, and
of those, only Iowa and Connecticut actually used dogs for cell
extractions. (Read Human Rights Watch Report) Immediately following the
release of the report, Iowa announced that it would cease
the use of dogs against prisoners.
The ACLU brought these facts to
the attention of Theresa Lantz, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of
Correction, in a letter dated October 30, 2006.
(Read Letter To Commissioner Lantz_Dogs) The letter explained, "The use of a fierce animal to control an
imprisoned person is inherently degrading, and there is a pervasive view among
corrections professionals that the use of dogs for cell extractions is neither
necessary nor appropriate since there are always better and equally effective
alternatives."
The ACLU letter also cited an October 15 Hartford Courant editorial
calling the practice of using dogs for cell extractions "cruel" and noting that
it "brings to mind the graphic photos of snarling dogs used to control inmates
at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."
In her November 8 response
to the ACLU, Commissioner Lantz said that canines are "used during cell
extractions only under rare and extreme circumstances" and that "when an inmate
presents an imminent threat to life, however, I would rather have a dog face
that risk than a correctional officer."
Roger C. Vann, Executive Director
of the ACLU of Connecticut, called the Commissioner's response inadequate and
unpersuasive. "We urge the Governor and
the legislature of Connecticut to call a halt to the use of
attack dogs against prisoners," he said.
"It is shameful that Connecticut should be the last state in the Union to continue to tolerate this
barbaric practice."
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