Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Second Chance Society initiative deserves a second chance for passage in the coming special legislative session.

The proposal, which appears to have broad appeal crossing party lines, was among the bills falling victim to the disarray associated with the 11th-hour campaign by the Democratic leadership that jammed an unpopular budget through the House and Senate before the regular session ended.

The intent of “An Act Concerning a Second Chance Society” is to lower incarceration rates. It would do so by turning the focus of the criminal justice system on violent offenders, while giving more non-violent offenders alternatives to incarceration that address the root causes of their behavior.

It would also provide opportunities for a fresh start for those who do get in trouble with the law by offering easier access to pardons, allowing them to clear their records and more readily gain employment, if they have demonstrated reformed behavior.

Civil rights leaders like the approach because it can address the disproportionate imprisonment of minority young people in our urban communities, while national conservatives — including Grover Norquist — have endorsed it because it saves money. Prisons are expensive.

The bill would eliminate mandatory sentencing, giving judges discretion to consider the circumstances surrounding a crime, while retaining their ability to impose prison on repeat offenders.

Simple possession of illegal drugs would become a misdemeanor in many cases, rather than a felony.

One controversial aspect would end mandatory increased penalties for drug crimes that happen within 1,500 feet of schools, day care centers or public housing. In urban communities such as Norwich and New London, that means most everyone arrested for a drug crime is exposed to the higher penalties, even absent evidence they had any intent to target students or go near a school.

The bill would end the increased penalties for simple drug possession in these zones, but retain them for drug sales. That’s a sensible standard.

As the regular session neared its ends, Republicans expressed concern about language they felt could strip gun owners of their permits if convicted of a drug-possession misdemeanor. The legislature should address that concern to attract bipartisan support.

When the legislature returns for its special session, it should approve the Second Chance legislation and allow Connecticut to join the growing number of states undertaking this new approach.