John A Kissel

A juvenile court judge has been ordered to address a batch of child-protection cases that she inexplicably allowed to languish, stalling adoptions or other permanent placements for 10 children who had been removed from their parents because of abuse or...

The efforts of Democratic legislative leaders and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (also a Democrat) to keep pardon proceedings secret are corrosive to decent government. Mr. Malloy and Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee justify this proposal embedded...

The latest attempt to draw the curtain of secrecy around state government would exempt pardon applications from the Freedom of Information Act. It is baneful. Like so many similar proposals introduced in the General Assembly this year, it amounts to...

During Wednesday's debate on new gun laws, Sen. John Kissel rose and began a lengthy set of remarks with two anecdotes. First, the Enfield Republican spoke movingly of hugging his youngest son, Tristan, on the day of the Newtown massacre, one day before...

A lone gunman attacked a Connecticut elementary school just four months ago, renewing a debate on how to control gun violence. On Wednesday, that state’s Legislature began the final steps of passing what advocates call one of the nation’s...

School board members had a familiar complaint to pass along to their state legislators list Tuesday night: unfunded mandates. Several board members urged state Sen. John Kissel, a Republican, and Reps. David Kiner and David Alexander, both Democrats,...

The Senate voted Tuesday to approve Sunday alcohol sales in supermarkets and package stores, leaving Indiana as the only state with an across-the-board ban on Sunday sales. After a debate that lasted just more than an hour, the Senate voted 28-6, with...

After the death sentence was announced in the Joshua Komisarjevsky case, opponents of capital punishment in Connecticut vowed to press on with their cause while death penalty supporters pledged to continue fighting repeal efforts. Rep. Gary Holder-...

HARTFORD — The long drive to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut marked another milestone Wednesday when it cleared a key legislative committee. The 24-19 vote in the judiciary committee broke largely along party lines and came on the same day...

Since Gov. Dannel Malloy is hunting for ways to cut prison costs — he's already called for closing prisons and slashing 1,000 corrections jobs — maybe he'd be interested in an innovative suggestion that could dramatically reduce the number...

Two state senators are among the guests on Sunday on "The Real Story'' on FOX CT. Sen. Gary LeBeau of East Hartford and Sen. Rob Kane of Watertown will be speaking about the upcoming special legislative session on jobs on October 26 at the state Capitol....