Tag: connecticut

A Connecticut Couple Challenges Warrantless Surveillance of Their Property by Camera-Carrying Bears

Mark and Carol Brault, who own 114 acres of forested land in Hartland, Connecticut, operate a private nature preserve that charges admission to visitors interested in seeing bears and other wildlife. In a 2020 lawsuit, the town of Hartland accused Mark Brault of violating a local ordinance against feeding bears, a charge that he denies. The latest wrinkle in that ongoing dispute involves the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), which the Braults say has defied the Fourth Amendment by attaching a camera to a black bear that is known to frequent their property.

“Turning wildlife into unguided surveillance drones is unbearable,” Institute for Justice (I.J.) senior attorney Robert Frommer, a Fourth Amendment specialist who is not involved in this case, writes in an email. “Connecticut should paws its animal camera program so as not to infringe on Nutmeggers’ privacy and security.”

DEEP’s bear-borne camera is a twist on longstanding warrantless surveillance of private property by wildlife agents, which I.J. has challenged as a violation of state constitutional protections in Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In a complaint that the Braults filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, they argue that DEEP’s deployment of an ursine spy, identified by a state tag as Bear Number 119, violates the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches.

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Small amounts of ‘psychedelic’ mushrooms would be decriminalized in CT, under bill

At a time when more research is showing that the controlled ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms can help patients deal positively with depression, trauma and end-of-life issues, the state House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of the hallucinogenic fungi.

The bill, which opponents warned could lead to the eventual full legalization of the drug, passed 86-64 and next heads to the Senate. Thirteen Democrats voted against the bill and two Republicans voted for it.

If approved in the Senate and signed into law by the governor, the penalty for a first-time possession of a half ounce or less would be $150. State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee, said that a number of patients with behavioral health issues, including substance abuse, can benefit from the use of the drug, also called “magic mushrooms” or psychedelic mushrooms. But the research, much being done at Yale University, is moving slowly because of the illegality of the drug.

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Former Planned Parenthood Director Commits Suicide as Child Porn Investigation Intensifies

A former Planned Parenthood director, Tim Yergeau, 35, was found dead in his New Haven, Connecticut, apartment on Tuesday from suicide.

His death comes as a police investigation into a child pornography case intensified but was hampered by a botched raid on the apartment building in which Yergeau resided.

The Middletown Press reports:

Investigators are looking into the city police department’s botched child pornography raid last week at the apartment building of Long Wharf Theatre staffer Tim Yergeau who died by suicide on Tuesday, officials said.

“The person who died was definitely the suspect in a child pornography investigation and the person who committed suicide,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told Hearst Connecticut Media Group on Wednesday.

The chief has requested an internal affairs investigation after members of the Special Victims Unit investigating the child pornography case broke down the door of Yergeau’s neighbor and handcuffed the woman before realizing they raided the wrong apartment.

“They obviously hit the wrong door,” Jacobson said.

The internal affairs investigation will also examine how Yergeau wound up taking his own life five days later, the chief said.

“Unfortunately, a mistake was made,” Jacobson said. “We feel for the woman and we’re going to do everything we can to make it right.”

“The investigation is part of holding my department accountable and transparent,” he added.

Jacobson, who said he plans to reach out to the woman, declined to confirm Yergeau was the suspect in the child pornography investigation. But Yergeau’s neighbor and the state Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner both confirmed he died Tuesday morning. The medical examiner also confirmed Yergeau died by suicide.

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Connecticut Democrats Seek to Create a Censorship Board to Limit Free Speech

The  Democrat-dominated Connecticut legislature is seeking to create a censorship board through Senate Bill 6410 to regulate online speech.

The bill would establish a board to study so-called online “harassment” of individuals, including government officials, and recommend legislation to censor free speech by the creation of reporting guidelines. The censorship board would consist of nine members, four of whom would represent the minority Republican party.

The bill states:

Such assessment shall include, but need not be limited to,

(1) short term and long term effects of harassing behaviors online on elected officials, public officials and residents of this state,

(2) what state or municipal action is needed to address negative online behaviors that consider a citizen’s right to freedom of speech versus an individual’s right to be free from harassment including, but not limited to, potential changes in state law concerning  additional penalties or enforcement of online harassment, and

(3) establishing guidelines for the reporting of online harassment of elected state and municipal officials that find a balance between making elected officials accessible to the people whom they serve and protecting them from abusive, offensive or threatening online harassment.

Chris Zeller, executive director of the Connecticut Republican party (CTGOP), told Breitbart News the Democrats are trying to pass a censorship measure to cover up their agenda.

“They are trying to hide years of incompetent governance and a far-left agenda that is too radical for the average Connecticut voter,” he said.

According to a policy brief from Yankee Institute, about 150 people commented on the legislation via (presumably written) testimony. The vast majority of these opposed the bill. Some of those who opposed the bill said it would be used to “inhibit freedom of speech.”

Kate Prokop, president of Connecticut Residents Against Medical Mandates (CTRAMM), stated in her testimony that she is worried her organization will be censored because certain Democrat state politicians labeled CTRAMM as “extremist” during the pandemic.

“I’m not advocating for hate speech or condemning people. [I’m] against online censorship because it establishes an unnecessary paternal relationship with the government,” Prokop said. “Proposed Bill 6410 aims to limit constitutionally protected free speech online by demanding self-censorship from residents that have been gaslighted by elected officials for years.”

The bill was approved by committee March 17 and will now get a vote in the House.

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12-year-olds could get vaccinated without parental consent under bill proposed in Connecticut

Connecticut state Rep. Kevin Ryan has introduced a bill that would enable kids aged 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental permission.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That the general statutes be amended to allow a child twelve years of age or older to receive a vaccination with the consent of such child’s parent or guardian,” the text of the measure reads.

Connecticut House Minority Leader Rep. Vinnie Candelora described the proposal as “very disturbing.”

State Rep. Holly Cheeseman pushed back against the proposal, raising the prospect of a scenario in which a person’s child experiences “an adverse reaction” but the parent does not know what has happened to the child.

“Minors under the age of 18 cannot be vaccinated by a healthcare provider without parental consent,” according to portal.ct.gov. But the proposal put forward by Ryan would rob parents of this authority.

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44,000 marijuana convictions in Connecticut to be cleared in 2023

Starting on January 1, 2023, the state says records of approximately 44,000 residents will have cases cleared, including some that date back more than 30 years ago.

Two very different reasons were provided by Governor Ned Lamont as to why the convictions will be erased, the first and most obvious being that the state legalized recreational marijuana in July 2021, allowing adults over 21 to carry 1.5 ounces on their person or five ounces in a locked container or locked glove compartment or trunk.

“On January 1, thousands of people in Connecticut will have low-level cannabis convictions automatically erased due to the cannabis legalization bill we enacted last year,” the governor commented.

The other reason, according to Gov. Lamont, is the state’s job market, which seeks to fill “hundreds of thousands” of open positions.

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Project Veritas: Connecticut School Director Placed “On Leave” After Detailing Sexual Fantasies with Minor Students: ‘Every Day There is Different Panties On’

Project Veritas on Thursday released undercover video of a Connecticut school director detailing his sexual fantasies with minor students.

Iman Rasti, Director of Writing Center; Middle School English Teacher; Seventh Grade Dean at Greens Farms Academy: “That possibly means me losing my job, my reputation — it’s way too risky. Like, one thing they [students] do these days, they sit down in front of me, they purposefully sit down somewhere in the class that is literally directly in front of me. They spread their legs wide open and that is just brutal. Brutal.”

“They [students] are naughty.. They spread their legs wide open… Every day there’s different panties on.. it’s hot… it’s hard.. literally and figuratively”

Project Veritas reported:

Project Veritas released a new video today exposing an educator working at a prestigious Connecticut private school, Iman Rasti, for sexually-explicit statements he made about his current high school students.

Rasti, who oversees Green Farms Academy’s Writing Center, teaches Middle School English, and is the Seventh Grade Dean, was recorded fantasizing about young female pupils. He even admits that his thoughts could get him in trouble at work.

“That possibly means me losing my job, my reputation — it’s way too risky. Like, one thing they [students] do these days, they sit down in front of me, they purposefully sit down somewhere in the class that is literally directly in front of me. They spread their legs wide open and that is just brutal. Brutal,” Rasti said.

“Every day, there is different panties on: green, black, white and they [students] make sure — it’s like they talk to each other, the three of them do that,” he said.

Rasti speaks of his students in a very descriptive way.

“They open their legs, and I am teaching, and I see what I see. They make sure that the panties are positioned in a way that I actually see the thing,” he said.

“Well, how can you concentrate? How can you continue talking with your classroom when you see that? I don’t know for women — if you see, I don’t know, I guess for women it’s sexy to see a man with a hard on. Maybe it’s sexy, I don’t know…They [students] are naughty.”

“So, you see a 15-year-old girl, and next year they come back to school, and she is a woman. She is a woman. There is no way — she has gained weight, just, doing nothing, so it is clear that she has had sex. A lot of sex.”

Iman Rasti was placed on leave after the video surfaced.

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Connecticut To Hire ‘Misinformation’ Specialist To Police The Internet

Connecticut is hiring a “misinformation” specialist to police the internet ahead of the midterm elections, according to the state’s budget statement.

The position of a misinformation “security analyst” was proposed by Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill to combat alleged election misinformation that has “undermined public confidence in the fairness and capability of election results,” according to the budget statement.

Their role will be to “monitor and combat election misinformation on a full-time basis,” the statement read. Additionally, the budget allocates millions of dollars toward election education, including information on absentee voting and security.

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School Nurse Suspended For Revealing Connecticut Public School Was Secretly Giving Children Puberty Blockers Behind Their Parents’ Backs

A school nurse was suspended after revealing the school worked at was secretly giving children puberty blockers behind their parents’ backs.

77-year-old Kathleen Cataford was suspended by Hartford Public Schools this week after she revealed the school secretly put an 11-year-old student on puberty blockers in a public comment on Facebook.

“Investigate the school system curriculum…CT is a very socially liberal, gender confused state,” the Facebook post read. “As a public school nurse, I have an 11yo female student on puberty blockers and a dozen identifying as non-binary, all but two keeping this as a secret from their parents with the help of teachers, SSW [social workers] and school administration.”

She continued, “Teachers and SSW are spending 37.5 hours a week influencing our children, not necessarily teaching our children what YOU think is being taught.”

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Connecticut socialite mom admits to secretly filming minors in her mansion

A voyeuristic Connecticut socialite pleaded guilty to secretly recording three people, including a child, in a sexual situation in her multimillion-dollar Greenwich mansion.

Hadley Palmer, a mother of four, pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and risk of injury to a minor — all committed in 2017 — on Jan. 19 in state Superior Court. As part of the plea bargain, the two most serious charges levied against her were dropped — employing a minor in an obscene performance, which is a Class A felony, and possession of child pornography.

The charges allege she filmed someone either naked or in their underwear with the “intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of such person (defendant) or any other person.”

Palmer, 53, could face between 90 days and 60 months in prison. She will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

However, in an unusual move, her criminal case has been sealed from the public. Judge John Blawie issued the order in Stamford on Thursday, limiting most of the details and criminal proceedings surrounding her crimes.

The judge said the case was sealed in order to protect several victims’ identities, despite objections from the Associated Press.

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