Criminal Justice

This bill creates a new crime called organized retail theft to target large-scale shoplifting operations and related activities. It defines retail property as items intended for sale and establishes that stealing merchandise worth over $2,000 within a year, or selling stolen goods to someone who knows they are stolen, constitutes this new offense. The law also makes it a crime to receive, possess, or sell stolen retail property with intent to distribute it, even if obtained through other means, and classifies these acts as felonies with penalties increasing if the financial gain exceeds $10,000. The bill also updates the general definition of larceny to include various methods of obtaining property such as false promises, extortion, and fraud against public communities. These changes would take effect on October 1, 2026.

SB 90 revises Connecticut's hate crime laws by expanding protected categories and clarifying offenses. It adds "gender identity or expression" and "protective hairstyles" to the list of protected social categories, while updating definitions of disability, religion, and sex. The bill maintains three offense levels: causing physical injury (class C felony, $3,000+ fine), causing physical contact (class D felony, $1,000+ fine), and damaging property (similar penalties), all with mandatory minimum fines. These changes directly affect anyone committing bias-motivated crimes against individuals or groups based on expanded protected categories like gender identity or hairstyle.

HB 5225 prohibits pharmacies, drug distributors, and manufacturers from selling, dispensing, transferring, or delivering drugs or devices intended for lethal injection executions. It directly affects licensed healthcare entities (like hospitals, pharmacies, and medical suppliers) that might otherwise provide these items to correctional facilities. The law specifically bans such transactions unless the correctional facility has no knowledge the drugs will be used for execution. Exemptions cover routine pharmacy operations (e.g., emergency stock for nursing homes) but exclude any supply for execution purposes. The bill takes effect October 1, 2026.