Connecticut confronted as originator of New England witch trials

On Wednesday, their descendants and others asked the legislature’s Judiciary Committee to exonerate them as victims of misogyny, religious intolerance, petty disputes writ large and polarizing political disputes of the time. Nine of the 11 executed were women.
...
Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, wanted evidence of her innocence, even if the accused had been hanged for familiarity with Satan. (He did not muse about what evidence was sufficient to convict on that charge.)

“Typically, when somebody wants to have a convict exonerated, while they’re alive or after they’re dead, they produce evidence that they were innocent,” asked Dubitsky, a lawyer. “Do you have any evidence that this person was innocent?”
...
Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, told a later witness he grew up in Windsor where “we certainly had our share of witch situations.”

But he was wary of the state offering exonerations for convictions returned in colonial times.

“I’m concerned about the path that we’re taking, if we have to go and redress every single perceived or real wrong that happened in our history,” Kissel said. “And this may start in colonial times, and we can then march forward and essentially retry and reassess every step along the hundreds and hundreds of years while we have really pressing issues right now.”

https://ctmirror.org/2023/03/02/ct-new-england-witch-trials-salem-witchcraft-convictions-connecticut-legislature/