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Gubernatorial Candidate Accused of Plagiarism

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley released an urban policy proposal Wednesday that contained wording identical to passages previously posted on Internet websites of public policy think tanks.

By Jenny Wilson, Jon Lender
 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley released an urban policy proposal Wednesday that contained wording identical to passages previously posted on Internet websites of public policy think tanks.


The state Democratic Party pointed out the similarities in wording less than three hours after an afternoon press conference in New Britain at which Foley unveiled his proposals.
"It appears that they are plagiarized -- word for word, sentence for sentence -- from other sources," a Democratic spokesman said in an email to news organizations.
 

The Foley plan covers jobs, housing, crime, taxes and education in urban communities. It includes proposals to cut the car tax in cities where it is the highest, strip funding from and reconstitute low-performing schools, and provide economic incentives for businesses to grow. The proposal is based on free market principles that Foley said would restore growth in Connecticut's cities -- through "public policy that protects the integrity of the private market."
 

But Democrats cited wording in Foley's policy proposal that was similar or identical to lines in an article published March 19 in The Pelican Post, the online publication of The Pelican Institute for Public Policy in Louisiana. The article, concerning legislative proposals for criminal justice reforms in Louisiana, was republished March 21 online by the Heartland Institute in Chicago -- and is still posted on both conservative think tanks' websites.
 

In the following excerpts -- from The Pelican Post's article, and from Foley's policy proposals -- passages have been put in boldface to show similarities in wording:
 

--The Pelican Post: "There are a number of reasons for the dramatic growth of the state's prison population over the past two decades, but one important factor is the rise of determinate sentencing laws. This has caused a growing number of non-violent offenders to serve long prison terms without an opportunity to be considered for parole. In many cases, these offenders serve time in prisons where the lack of training and educational options increases the likelihood that they will be released without any of the skills needed to play a productive role in society."
 

--Foley's policy proposal: "Incarceration rates have increased driven in part by the rise of stiffer sentencing guidelines. A growing number of offenders to serve long prison terms without an opportunity to be considered for parole. These offenders serve time in prisons where the lack of training and educational options increases the likelihood that they will be released without any of the skills needed to hold a job and build a crime-free future."
 

--The Pelican Post: "Provisional Occupational Licenses: HB911... allows certain ex-offenders to obtain a provisional, or probationary, occupational license if they are otherwise qualified. This bill will make it easier for qualified ex-offenders to rejoin the workforce."
 

--Foley's policy proposal: "I will promote provisional occupational licenses [that] would allow certain ex-offenders to obtain a provisional, or probationary, occupational license if they are otherwise qualified. This bill will make it easier for qualified ex-offenders to rejoin the workforce."
 

"Tom Foley not only lifted ideas that Gov. Malloy has either proposed or is already doing, like urban job training and improving minority contractors," said Mark Bergman, a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's campaign. "He also is so devoid of a specific thought or idea for urban communities he had to plagiarize his plan directly from out-of-state sources."
 

Foley campaign spokesman Mark McNulty replied: "The urban policy agenda released today is largely drawn from the work of the Connecticut Policy Institute, a think tank Tom Foley founded and he has said from start would be the foundation of his urban policy agenda."
 

As to the out-of-state sources, such as the Pelican and Heartland institutes, McNulty said: "Borrowing policy ideas from states that have successfully road tested new policy initiatives is not plagiarism -- it's smart."
 

He declined comment when asked about the identical wording.


"The initiatives cited in our urban policy agenda are either good ideas or they aren't," McNulty said. "We'd like to know which of the ideas the Democratic state party thinks are bad ideas. For example, do they think we should reduce the car tax in cities or not? What does the governor think?"


Here are excerpts from Foley's policy proposal and positions posted on the website of the Connecticut Policy Institute that Foley founded (again, with boldface added):


--Foley's proposal: "I will ensure that no one slips through the cracks by requiring that third graders pass a reading test before being allowed to go on to fourth grade and that high school students pass a regents-style exam before graduating."


--Connecticut Policy Institute: "Assure that no one slips through the cracks by requiring that third graders pass a reading test before being allowed to go on to fourth grade and that high school students pass a regents-style exam before graduating."


Foley's proposal: "I will refashion Connecticut's state crime lab into a cutting-edge twenty-first century support services center. It shouldn't simply perform tests, but use innovative technologies to provide police departments and officers in the field with data and analysis they can immediately put to use to prevent and investigate crime."


Connecticut Policy Institute: "Connecticut should refashion its state crime lab into a cutting-edge twenty-first century support services center that doesn't simply perform tests, but uses innovative technologies to provide police departments and officers in the field with data and analysis they can immediately put to use to prevent and investigate crime."

(c)2014 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.)


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