Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

Last week, Connecticut’s Supreme Court overturned on process grounds a jury's decision that the state of Connecticut should pay $18.3 million to Computers Plus, a company that once operated out of East Hartford. The jury found that the state – specifically, then quick-to-sue Attorney General Richard Blumenthal -- had defamed the owner of the company and violated her due-process rights. The jury’s multi-million dollar award should be taken as an indication of the depth of the state’s perfidy in driving Computer Plus out of business on a fraudulent claim of wrongdoing.

Dave Altimari and Edmund Mahony of the Hartford Courant are reporting that Superior Court Judge Barry Stevens, ruling a jury award to the owner of a Connecticut company destroyed by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was too high, reduced from $18 million to $1.83 million the jury’s award to Gina Malapanis, the former owner of Computer Plus Center of East Hartford. Blumenthal earlier professed to be shocked by the $18 million jury award, in part a reaction to an affidavit that one of Blumenthal’s litigators had permitted to reach the jury. In her complaint, Malapanis alleged : “… procedural and substantive due process violations in that ‘Regan and Blumenthal recklessly and maliciously referred the matter to the [Connecticut State Police, as a result of which Malapanis’ property was seized’; that ‘Regan and Blumenthal recklessly and maliciously issued a press release that contained false information;’ that ‘Regan provided false and misleading information on his affidavit in supp...

"To blame law enforcement for unemployment,” said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal at a forum sponsored by some of the companies and industries he has sued, “is beyond wrong, it's silly and shouldn't be given any credibility. In fact it is a disservice to public service itself and to the law-abiding, hard-working business people.” The report from which the above quote is taken does not disclose the reaction from those in the audience to Blumenthal’s remarks, some of whom work for companies sued by Blumenthal. At an earlier debate with Democratic opponent Merrick Alpert, Blumenthal answered a charge that his many suits have had a deleterious impact on Connecticut’s job growth by charging that, on the contrary, they enhanced business activity and actually created jobs. This time, at a forum sponsored by some of Connecticut’s major companies, Blumenthal’s response was more polished and carefully modulated. Almost all business, Blumenthal said, have nothing to fear ...