Connecticut SB 397: AN ACT CONCERNING LIBRARY SERVICE FOR PERSONS WHO ARE BLIND, VISUALLY IMPAIRED OR HAVE OTHER DISABILITIES.

Bill Text

Substitute Senate Bill No. 397

Public Act No. 26-14

AN ACT CONCERNING DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE USE AND RETENTION OF DATA
DERIVED FROM AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER
SYSTEMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Every person, including a
federal or state officer or employee who, under color of any statute,
ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of the United States or the state
of Connecticut, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of this
state or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of
any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the United States
Constitution, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law or
other proper proceeding for redress.
(b) (1) In a civil action brought pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section, if the defendant is held liable, the court may award damages,
including, but not limited to, nominal damages, actual damages,
compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief and other
appropriate equitable relief, to protect the peaceable exercise or
enjoyment of the right or rights secured by the United States
Constitution.
(2) In a civil action brought pursuant to subsection (a) of this section,

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Public Act No. 26-14 2 of 42

if the defendant is held liable, the court shall award the plaintiff
reasonable attorney's fees and expenses, unless the court determines
that special circumstances would render such an award unjust.
(c) It is the intent of the legislature that in construing the provisions
of this section, the courts shall be guided by interpretations given by
federal and state courts to 42 USC 1983, as amended from time to time,
except that under this section an injured person may bring a claim
against a federal officer or employee. Any person named as a defendant
under the provisions of this section shall be entitled to raise any
applicable immunities or defenses under federal or state law, and
federal officers or employees shall be immune to the same degree as an
equivalent state officer or employee.
(d) No provision of this section shall be construed to constitute a
waiver of the state's sovereign immunity.
Sec. 2. Section 3-129g of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from
passage):
(a) The Attorney General may investigate, intervene in or bring a civil
or administrative action in the name of the state, seeking injunctive or
declaratory relief, damages, and any other relief that may be available
under law, whenever any person is or has engaged in a practice or
pattern of conduct, or has established a policy, that:
(1) Subjects, or causes to be subjected, other persons to the
deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the
constitutions or laws of this state or the United States; or
(2) Interferes, or attempts to interfere, by threats, intimidation or
coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by other persons of any rights,
privileges or immunities secured by the constitutions or laws of this
state or the United States.

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(b) In conducting any investigation under this section, the Attorney
General may issue subpoenas and interrogatories, and otherwise gather
information, in the same manner and to the same extent as is provided
in section 35-42. No information obtained pursuant to the provisions of
this subsection may be used in a criminal proceeding.
(c) The Attorney General may investigate, intervene in or bring a civil
or administrative action in the name of the state, seeking injunctive or
declaratory relief, damages and any other relief that may be available
under law, whenever any person, acting under color of any statute,
ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of the United States or the state
of Connecticut:
(1) Subjects, or causes to be subjected, other persons to the
deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the
Constitution of the United States or the state Constitution; or
(2) Interferes, or attempts to interfere, by physical obstruction,
threats, intimidation or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by
other persons of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the
Constitution of the United States or the state Constitution.
[(c)] (d) If the Attorney General prevails in a civil action brought
pursuant to this section, the court shall order the distribution of any
award of damages to the injured person. In a matter involving the
interference or attempted interference with any right protected by the
[constitutions of this state or the United States] Constitution of the
United States or the state Constitution, the court may also award civil
penalties against each defendant in an amount not exceeding two
thousand five hundred dollars for each violation, provided such
violat