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Bill offers absolution, not exoneration for victims of Connecticut witch trials
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The state House of Representatives offered absolution, though pointedly not exoneration, to the nine women and two men hanged for witchcraft in 17th-century Connecticut, a dark and overlooked chapter of its colonial history.
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By a vote of 121-30 on May 17, the House approved a resolution that was rewritten to sidestep lawyerly concerns, most notably whether contemporary Connecticut has a right to overturn verdicts reached during British colonial rule.
To mollify opponents and get the measure called for a vote, the resolution’s sponsor, Rep. Jane Garibay, took the deal: Among other tweaks, Connecticut would absolve, not exonerate, the condemned “of all crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil.” The resolution still would assert “misogyny played a large part in the trials and in denying defendants their rights and dignity” and that “Connecticut apologizes to
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Garibay is a Democrat from The apology was galling to at Windsor, a community setleast one lawmaker. tled by the English in 1633, just 14 years before the vil“I’m gonna say it. I’m really lage turned on one of their not sorry,” said Rep. Jason own, hanging Alice Young. Perillo, R-Shelton. “Nobody from my family was here. Young was the mother of a And I’m looking at a lot of daughter who escaped an other folks. Nobody from epidemic that claimed your family was here.” neighboring children in 1647, a source of envy and Garibay said the apology suspicion — ingredients in was important to descenwitchcraft accusations that dants of the condemned persist, often directed at witches who attended a pub- women. lic hearing of the Judiciary Committee in March. The May issue of Scientific American reports that every “They’re not asking for mon- year more than 1,000 people ey,” Garibay said. “The only still are “tortured, expelled thing they’re asking is that as a community we say, ‘We See Witch, A9 Executive VP & Publisher — Liz White Notarangelo News Editor — Nick Carroll Interim Editor — Eric Cotton Vice President of Advertising — Jim Mizener Vice President & Creative Director — Erik Allison
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William Schloat told lawmakers, “If I had a time machine, I would travel back to Hartford in the 1600s to help the people who are being accused of witchcraft.” Two rows behind him, at right, is Rep. Jane Garibay, sponsor of the exoneration resolution. Mark Pazniokas, The Connecticut Mirror
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“Connecticut was a British colony,” said Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, also a lawyer. “And all of these injustices that were carried out on these people were carried out by the British, and this amendment makes that clear.”
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“We have absolutely no power to exonerate someone who was convicted under a different government,” said Rep. Craig Fishbein, a lawyer and the ranking House Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
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