Take away pensions for moral crimes, too

Connecticut should revoke the pensions of public employees who commit moral crimes as well as financial ones. We should not be paying lifetime benefits to those who abuse the power of their office.

Hearst Connecticut Media recently reported on 26 instances when the state attorney general tried to revoke or reduce pensions for public officials found guilty of corruption, embezzlement, bribery or theft. The attorney general should be commended. The people of Connecticut deserve accountability.

But Connecticut’s pension revocation law doesn’t go far enough.

The Connecticut law, passed in 2008, allows public employee pension revocation or reduction only for instances in which the employee is guilty of committing a financial crime such as bribery, embezzlement and theft. But the public’s trust can be violated in other ways.

Those allowed to keep their pensions and health benefits include a state hospital employee who was found guilty of abuse of a patient under his care. Mark Cusson is earning a pension of $90,885 a year while he is in prison.

The country is now trying to reconcile trust in authority with documented police abuse. There is no better time to ensure that those who violate the public’s trust face long-term and strict consequences.

This is about accountability for those in authority and about ensuring that those who would consider such crimes think twice.

It’s time this statute was expanded to include crimes against people, rather than just money.

We, as a society, cannot undo the crimes committed by those in authority, but we should certainly not be forced to continue paying them.

If we want a respected state government, we must ensure that those who would abuse their authority face lifetime consequences, not lifetime benefits.

Frank Ricci Wallingford