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Hundreds of years after a group of men and women were tried and convicted of witchcraft, Connecticut lawmakers have formally exonerated them for their “crimes.”
The Senate approved the resolution Thursday, according to a news release from Sen. Saud Anwar, who introduced the bill. The resolution passed with a 33-1-2 vote, the release said.
Anwar’s office said “the resolution seeks to bring relief to the descendants of those who were maligned and acknowledge that they were treated wrongly.”
“We cannot go back in time and prevent the banishment, tarnishing or execution of the innocent women and men who were accused of witchcraft, but we can acknowledge the wronghoods they faced and the pain they felt, pain still recognized by their survivors today,” said Anwar. “Today, the Senate took an important step to own our state’s history and provide relief to the memories of the deceased and their descendants who still struggle with their ancestors’ wrongful treatment.”
The text of the resolution stipulates “the General Assembly recognizes that residents of colonial Connecticut were falsely accused of practicing witchcraft in the seventeenth century and that such persons were tried, convicted and sometimes sentenced to death for such offense, and declares that, although these accusations, prosecutions, trials and executions cannot be undone or changed, no disgrace or cause for distress should attach to the heirs of those persons.”
The resolution passed the Connecticut House of Representatives May 10, according to Anwar’s release. The resolution will now head to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk for his signature.
The Senate approved the resolution Thursday, according to a news release from Sen. Saud Anwar, who introduced the bill. The resolution passed with a 33-1-2 vote, the release said.
Anwar’s office said “the resolution seeks to bring relief to the descendants of those who were maligned and acknowledge that they were treated wrongly.”
“We cannot go back in time and prevent the banishment, tarnishing or execution of the innocent women and men who were accused of witchcraft, but we can acknowledge the wronghoods they faced and the pain they felt, pain still recognized by their survivors today,” said Anwar. “Today, the Senate took an important step to own our state’s history and provide relief to the memories of the deceased and their descendants who still struggle with their ancestors’ wrongful treatment.”
The text of the resolution stipulates “the General Assembly recognizes that residents of colonial Connecticut were falsely accused of practicing witchcraft in the seventeenth century and that such persons were tried, convicted and sometimes sentenced to death for such offense, and declares that, although these accusations, prosecutions, trials and executions cannot be undone or changed, no disgrace or cause for distress should attach to the heirs of those persons.”
The resolution passed the Connecticut House of Representatives May 10, according to Anwar’s release. The resolution will now head to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk for his signature.
