Presented by the Executive Committee

About the Program

This panel will present the measures taken by the state of Connecticut’s Hate Crimes Advisory Council (HCAC) to improve the ability of state agencies and the public to prevent, identify, and respond to hate crimes. Council members worked with the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to create a new hate crime reporting form and model hate crime policy for law enforcement and state and local police training. The HCAC has launched a new community reporting mechanism ReportHate.CT.Gov and engaged in public outreach efforts. In the 2025 legislative session, the HCAC promoted new legislation including proposing a new act to consolidate the disparate and inconsistent hate crimes states, requesting an FOI exemption for the names and addresses of victims of hate crimes, and permitting a community impact statement that would allow community representatives to submit testimony at a sentencing hearing.

You Will Learn

• About the laws, policies, and procedures to address hate crimes in the state of Connecticut
• How lawyers, judges, law students, and other legal professionals may assist in preventing and combating hate crimes

Who Should Attend

Any attorneys interested in how Connecticut is addressing hate crimes.

Speakers

Kenneth Barone
University of Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, Hartford

Sachin S. Pandya
UConn School of Law, Hartford

Michelle Querijero
Farmington

Moderators

Hon. Douglas S. Lavine (Ret.)
Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council, Hartford

Amy Lin Meyerson
Law Office of Amy Lin Meyerson, Weston