WHAT IS ONE STANDARD OF JUSTICE?

One Standard of Justice, Inc. is a volunteer-based civil rights organization committed to ensuring that persons accused or convicted of sex offenses in Connecticut are treated constitutionally and fairly by the state before, during, and after their sentences. We believe that these persons ought to be accorded dignity and respect as human beings. They are entitled, like all other criminal offenders, to be subjected only to penalties proportionate to the severity of their crimes, to be given second chances where warranted, and to have adequate opportunities for education, rehabilitation, housing, and employment. Communities are safer with rational laws and a focus on prevention of sexual harm and and the healing of all those affected by it.

While we advocate fairness for all sex offenders, we believe that the plight of nonviolent, non-predatory offenders demands especially urgent redress.

Motivated by these core beliefs, we see our missions as several:

• to educate the public and the state government about the sex offender population and their treatment by the legal system, dispelling common myths and prejudices in the process;
• to give voice to individual sex offenders’ experiences of unfair treatment; to litigate violations of sex offenders’ rights in the courts;
• to seek to amend state laws governing the sentencing and post-sentence registration of sex offenders;
• to hold state agents accountable in the courts for any of their violations of the civil rights of sex offenders
• and to provide resources for persons registered or registrable in Connecticut and their families.

Because accurate facts are crucial to each of these missions, we also aim to provide a clearinghouse for legal and statistical information relating to sex offenders. While our advocacy prioritizes reform in Connecticut, we support the fair treatment of sex offenders throughout the United States, and elsewhere.