Victim advocate fighting to keep job

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz is fighting to keep her job after criticizing the early release of state prison inmates under a program backed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration.

Cruz and Republican state legislators who support her are questioning the timing of a new search for candidates for her position that began recently after she called for a halt to the prison release program.

But officials in the Democratic administration have criticized Cruz's job performance over the past several years. And an evaluation of her office in 2010 deemed it ineffective and contained adjectives including "antagonistic," ''combative" and "troubling."

Cruz's term expired last April. Administration officials say an advisory committee is following state law in searching for new candidates when there's a vacancy or the advocate's term expires.