DeWolfe Morrow

A speaker traditionally provides a keynote address at the ACLU-VT's annual meeting. This year, both to honor a young artist's creativity and to set the stage for a discussion on factors that alter people's perceptions of others, Morrow's short film, "One Day," will be shown.

Earlier this year, “One Day” won top honors at a “creative minds” film competition at Cannes, France. Morrow said he made the film “to convey the notion that everyone is created equal, regardless of their status." Morrow is currently a senior at Burlington College.

A panel discussion will follow the showing of the film. On the panel will be members of Migrant Justice, a group that advocates for migrant workers on Vermont’s dairy farms, as well as the winner of a Constitution Day writing contest co-sponsored by the Young Writers Project and the ACLU-VT.

The business portion of the ACLU’s annual meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Updates of ACLU activities on the national and state level will be offered in the morning, along with a fundraising auction. The showing of Morrow’s “One Day” film, and the panel discussion, will begin immediately after annual awards are announced at 1 p.m.

A detailed schedule is available on the ACLU’s Web site. The public is invited to any part of the meeting. (Reservations are needed for a noontime luncheon, however.)

 

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WCAX online story on DMV system

That’s according to a story WCAX’s Kristin Kelly did Tuesday. She reported: “Smith now says that that (Seven Days) interview was nearly a year ago, before the system started and that things have changed since then.”

(The interview was reported by Seven Days staffer Ken Picard and published July 16, 2012 on the paper’s Blurt, or Staff Online, Blog.)

At a time when revelations about the National Security Agency’s pervasive surveillance system are coming out, we’re learning Vermont officials have no problem adapting their new system so it can be used as a 24/7 police line-up of every Vermonter who has a driver’s license.

Done nothing wrong? Why worry?

Here's why we should all worry: We live in a society with a Constitution that guarantees we’re innocent until proven guilty. We are not guilty until proven innocent. We have a right not to be suspected of a crime if there’s no evidence we’ve committed one. Vermont police or NSA analysts cannot troll through personal information about us without suspicion we’ve done something wrong. They can’t seize any of our “papers and effects” without a warrant from a court.

What the DMV incident illustrates is that – just as with the NSA surveillance -- there is no effective public oversight of many of the “big data” systems that government is building. Our state government gets Homeland Security funds to build a system that’s supposed to be used for issuing driver’s licenses but is suddenly also being used for something else. No one knew, until a reporter – familiar with the Seven Days interview from last year -- asked.

In that 2012 interview, DMV Director Smith also said that the new DMV database “will not be linked to databases in other states or the federal government.”

Will that promise to Vermonters be kept? Or will “times change,” and without our knowledge or consent our photos will be dumped into other databases and used for whatever purpose the operators of those systems want?

One more irony: While there’s plenty of money to buy a high-tech facial recognition system for the DMV, there’s not enough money to buy a basic digital reporting system for the Secretary of State’s Office – a system that would allow us to track money flowing through Vermont political campaigns.

This doesn't speak well for transparency.

The post 'Things Have Changed' -- New DMV System Now Used For Law Enforcement appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

William Arkin interviewed by Alicia Freese of VT Digger (left) and Nancy Remsen of the Burlington Free Press at Wednesday's surveillance conference.

Lead speaker William Arkin, a military and national security expert who lives in Pomfret, said the challenge the country now faces revolves around a central question: “What are the new rules for information systems going to be in this age of networks?”

Arkin said Edward Snowden’s revelations of the scope and scale of National Security Agency data collection were “cataclysmic” for the agency’s massive vacuuming of personal information about Americans. The country is finally being forced to decide whether such surveillance is justified and acceptable to citizens.

Because much of the surveillance is conducted through examination of digital data collected automatically on each of us, we have largely been unaware of how much the government and private companies know about us.

But such vast amounts of personal data are being amassed on a continuing, routine basis that it’s possible to build profiles of an individual and determine where she goes, whom she talks to or e-mails, what she likes to eat, and what searches she does on the Web.

Arkin alluded to the premise of his most recent book, American Coup – that America has two governments, the familiar “ABC” government of a Congress and a Constitution and a between-the-lines “XYZ” government that is beyond the reach of Congress, the courts, and the people.

“You are free to say what you want, believe what you want, assemble where you want, as long as you don’t violate invisible limitations and barriers or interfere with the workings of the XYZ,” Arkin notes.

Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the National ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told the conference that policymakers need to see, in an upfront and personal way, the negative privacy implications policies have before they understand why people don’t like their privacy invaded by high-tech tools or police systems.

Speakers and panelists at the conference pointed out that a “national surveillance state” was being constructed before 9/11. Law enforcement has been able to tap directly into the nation’s telecommunications system since 1994, for example.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the wars first in Iraq and then in Afghanistan, were seized upon by government to expand its use of surveillance in tracking identified and potential terrorists. But the new dragnets the government has laid out catches information about everyone – whether suspected of committing or planning a crime, or just going about their everyday lives.

Wednesday's conference was a further exploration of the report issued by the ACLU-VT this year on Constitution Day, Surveillance On The Northern Border.

 

The post 'We're Being Watched' Is Conference Message appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

The final days of any legislative session are sometimes just a lot of waiting.

• Taser use regulated. Training and deployment standards will be developed into a statewide policy that all law enforcement agencies must adopt. Vermont is believed first in the nation to adopt statewide regulations.

• Race data collection mandated. Allegations of racial profiling have led to calls from the ACLU and others to require police to collect basic “stop” data when motorists are pulled over. After 15 years of work, success was achieved this year thanks to the efforts of migrant worker advocates.

• Innocence protection measures put in place. Recording of interrogations of suspects in high-level crimes will be required, and standards will be established for conducting eyewitness identifications.

• Abortion ban repealed. Leftover 19^th-century language never taken out of state statutes was finally removed. It was a low-key nod to reproductive freedom rights.

• Ethics panel established in House. A series of transparency and accountability proposals sugared off to one successful measure: an ethics panel will be created to receive inquiries and complaints about conflicts of interest House members might face, and members will have to disclose the boards they serve on.

• Notice of “collateral consequences” required. It’s hard to imagine, but someone convicted of a crime, or about to accept a plea bargain, cannot now be told the totality of their sentence. That’s because there is no comprehensive list of all the things that could happen to you in addition to jail time and/or a fine. That will soon change.

• Police certification levels reviewed. Full-time police officers and part-time officers can exercise the same policing authorities – yet regular officers get 16 weeks of training at the Vermont Police Academy, part-timers only two weeks. A review will explore “tiered” certification.

• Rules on public meetings revised. An open meeting bill first proposed in 2011 finally made it through the legislature this year. The bill takes steps both forward and back, but overall it's a plus.

 

As usual, there were disappointments:

• Drone bill didn’t fly. A bill introduced in 2012 requiring police to get a search warrant before using drones for surveillance never got a hearing. Drones are slowly making their way into the state. While no police department is known to have them, federal Border Patrol agents do.

• Electronic communications privacy bill ignored. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concern about police access to personal electronic communications. Citizens’ protections against government searches and seizures need an update. But a bill bringing e-communications under the same protections as non-digital media failed to attract legislators’ attention.

• Privacy of electronic medical records questioned; some protections added, but more needed. We fought hard before the Green Mountain Care Board to require strict privacy controls on access to records in the Vermont Health Information Exchange. But what’s really needed is a private right of action for patients to sue when their records are breached.

• “Drugged” driving bill hammered out. A last-minute compromise created a new standard for when police can take drivers off the road.

• Sex offender addresses may soon be posted on Web. Tucked onto the “collateral consequences” bill was language allowing Internet posting of the street addresses of certain sex offenders.

• School funding, consolidation, and privatization issues tangled until they expire. A range of complaints ran out the legislative clock.

• Campaign finance reform again falls short. The ACLU has consistently argued for greater disclosure of how money flows through politics. The legislature has consistently tried to adjust how much money who or what can give to whom, how, and when.

The post 2014 Legislative Wrap-Up appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

Criminal Justice Reform

H.728 Bail Reform

The use of cash bail in the US means that hundreds of thousands of people are locked up every year without being convicted of a crime - simply because they’re too poor to make bail. We have more to do on bail reform, but H.728 gives Vermont a good start by:

• Eliminating cash bail for low-level misdemeanors, like disorderly conduct or theft of property valued at less than $900
• Requiring courts to consider a defendant's financial means when imposing bail
• Changing the basis for imposing bail from "risk of nonappearance" to "risk of flight," ensuring detention is considered for those deliberately avoiding prosecution, rather than those who may miss a court date through no fault of their own

Status: H.728 has passed the House and is awaiting Senate consideration. We are urging legislators to help fight the practice of jailing Vermonters simply because they are poor by voting YES on H.728.

H. 660 Establishes a Commission on Sentencing Disparities

Unlike most states, Vermont does not have a system that puts crimes into different categories depending on their severity and appropriate punishment. This has led to an unjust patchwork of sentencing practices, with comparable crimes in different regions resulting in very different sentences. Far too many Vermonters are imprisoned for far too long as a result.

H.660 creates a commission to review Vermont’s criminal offenses and place each one in a standard penalty classification system. This commission will have the opportunity to help reverse mass incarceration in Vermont through fairer sentencing standards.

Status: H.660 has been passed by the House and is awaiting Senate consideration. We are urging legislators to support a criminal justice system that treats all Vermonters the same regardless of where they live by voting YES on H.660.

Racial Justice

S.281 Creates an Independent, Funded Board to Advance Racial Justice in Vermont

The Attorney General and Human Rights Commission taskforce found in its report last year that systemic racism pervades every corner of Vermont life: education, labor & employment, housing, healthcare and economic development. The report's topline recommendation? “Vermont state government will devote sufficient resources to reducing identified racial disparities across all systems of state government.”

S.281 answers that call by establishing an independent, funded board tasked with:

• Providing education on systemic racism and how to combat it
• Mitigating systemic racism in all systems of State government and public education
• Creating a centralized platform for race-based data collection and overseeing its collection and dissemination
• Appoint a Chief Civil Rights Officer to oversee training, collection of data and records, and comprehensive review of state systems with performance targets for improvement

If we're going to end systemic racism in this state, Vermont needs to put its money where its mouth is and invest in making it happen.

Status: S.821 has been passed by the Senate and is awaiting House consideration. We are urging legislators to advance racial justice in Vermont by voting YES on S.281

H.794 Adopts Ethnic Studies into Statewide K-12 Curriculum

H.794 directs the Agency of Education to convene an independent advisory board to develop statewide K-12 ethnic studies standards, focused on teaching the histories and contributions of non-dominant racial, ethnic, and social groups. The advisory board will identify standards that increase the cultural competence of students, provide access to curriculum that enables students to explore questions of identity, racial equality and racism, and ensures all curricular and extracurricular programs are welcoming to all students.

Status: H.794 is awaiting House consideration. We are urging the legislature to enrich the education of Vermont’s students and fight systemic racism by voting YES on H.794

Open Government

H.910 Public Records Act Reform

The Public Records Act says that the holder of a public record must “promptly produce it” upon request, but without a definition of “promptly” in the law, government agencies drag their feet for weeks, months and years in response to legitimate records requests. H.910 defines “promptly,” with some exceptions, as within three business days, which should help Vermonters get the information they need from their government faster and make obstruction easier to recognize.

Status: H. 910 has passed the House and is awaiting Senate consideration. We are urging the legislature to take this step towards good governance by to voting YES on H.910

Looking Ahead

There are many other bills that we’re monitoring and stand ready support or confront.

The legislature has a huge opportunity to shape a Vermont that works for everyone by taking up and passing an increase to the minimum wage (S.40, passed by the Senate, awaiting House consideration) and instituting paid family leave (H.196, passed by the House, awaiting Senate consideration). We’re also carefully watching a deeply problematic bill on roadside saliva testing and an attempt to exempt pollution management plans from the Public Records Act.

Thank you for working with us to advance civil liberties in Vermont.

The post 2018 Legislative Update appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

This session, we tracked nearly 120 bills and testified dozens of times on legislation critical to our constitutional and civil rights.

Highlights included:

Defending Reproductive Rights

With reproductive rights in jeopardy, Vermonters made clear they want to ensure abortion care remains safe, legal, and accessible in Vermont. The Vermont legislature passed H.57 to codify existing abortion rights protections and advanced PR. 5 to begin the process of becoming the first state to enshrine reproductive rights in its constitution.

The ACLU testified eight times in support of these two measures, and with strong legislative leadership and the voices of supporters like you weighing in at key moments, both pieces of legislation made it to the finish line with overwhelming support. Please join us in thanking all the elected officials who supported these historic pieces of legislation.

Smart Justice Vermont

Vermont is a leader among states making progress on criminal justice reform in recent years. Through our Smart Justice Vermont campaign, we are building on that progress by prioritizing alternatives to incarceration like restorative justice, drug treatment, and other programming that support better outcomes by investing in people over prisons.

We, our allies, and supporters raised concerns that H.543, which included planning for new prison construction, fell short of those goals. Thankfully, the legislature heard those concerns and significantly improved the bill’s language while also including in the budget, H. 542, a “Justice Reinvestment II” initiative with the stated goal—which we share—of creating a “smarter criminal justice system.”

Advancing Racial Justice

With the passage of H.3 (Act 1) Vermont became the second state in the nation to commit to developing ethnic and social equity standards in all Vermont public schools, from pre-K through 12^th grade. With S. 68, Vermont joins a growing number of states replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And, with updates to Vermont’s Fair & Impartial Policing law through H.518, cities and towns can now do more to protect immigrants’ rights and limit police involvement with ICE and Border Patrol.

For more information, you can read our end-of-session review on the ACLU’s work this session.

Much work remains to be done, but the ACLU, our members and our supporters made a strong showing in support of civil liberties in the first half of the biennium, and together we made tremendous progress.

Thank you for standing with us.

The post 2019 Legislative Wrap Up appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

As we reach the midpoint of the 2021 legislative session, we wanted to take some time to update you on the bills we are working on and to give you an idea of what we might expect in the second half of the session.

This year brought us the first fully virtual legislative session, providing both challenges and new opportunities for the public to engage in the process. Though Vermonters no longer have easy access to legislators in the hallways of the people’s house, the public can now watch full committee hearings at their convenience and from the comfort of our homes. But regardless of circumstances, we will continue working with you to create a Vermont where “we the people” means all of us.

Advancing ACLU Priorities and Defending Civil Liberties

The legislature has taken important steps to advance ACLU priorities in the areas of criminal justice reform, racial equity, and strengthening democracy. While we are making progress, we have also had to spend significant time pushing back on proposals that infringed on constitutional rights, eroded privacy protections, diminished protection from police violence, and would have further contributed to mass incarceration.

Below are some of the key pieces of legislation moving forward we hope to see passed this session.

In the House

• H.87 Sentencing reform. The bill raises Vermont’s felony threshold from $900 to $3000, reduces sentence lengths for property crimes across the board, and creates a structure that will lower sentence lengths for other crimes in the future.
• H.196 Funding for the office of the Executive Director of Racial Equity. The bill provides funding for two new positions in the office of the Director of Racial Equity.
• H.210 Health Disparities. The bill creates a Health Equity Advisory Commission to help establish an office of Health Equity, collect and report on data that relate to health disparities, and advise the legislature on how to address disparities in health care.
• H.430 Expanding Dr. Dynasaur to all income-eligible children and pregnant individuals regardless of immigration status.

In the Senate

• S.15 Universal vote by mail. The bill would require the state send a ballot to all registered voters for future general elections.
• S.16 School discipline advisory council. Creates a School Discipline Advisory Council and institutes new data reporting requirements to help the Council advise policy makers on school discipline practices.
• S.45 Earned discharge from probation. Creates a process to discharge people at the midpoint of their probation if they have met risk reduction requirements and have not had a violation of their probation in the last six months.
• S.100 Universal School Meals.  Provides two free meals to all school children in Vermont and promotes purchasing of local food.

Still In Committee

Two of our top priority bills that still remain to be taken up by key committees in the second half of the session are H.317, a bill that would create the Bureau of Racial Justice Statistics – finally allowing Vermont to identify and remedy the sources of racial disparities in our criminal legal system – and S.63, a bill that would remove armed police from Vermont’s schools.

To ensure we make progress on these bills this session your legislators need to hear from you. Below are two links that will help you connect with your lawmakers and tell them to prioritize these important bills that will help address the disparities that exist in our criminal legal and educational systems.

• Contact your legislators and ask them to pass and fund H.317 to require comprehensive data collection in our criminal legal system.
• Contact your Senators and tell them to support S.63 to get armed police out of schools.

What’s next?

We will continue to advocate for our legislative priorities and to shine light on the legislative process.  Our power lies in our members and supporters, and we look forward standing with you as we fight to make Vermont a better place for everyone who calls this state home.

The post 2021 Mid-Session Update appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

The League of Women Voters of Vermont has partnered with organizations from across the state to host two upcoming candidate forums. Below, you will find information about each event and links to access event livestreams.

Lieutenant Governor Forum: September 21

When: Wednesday, September 21 from 7 to 8:30pm; meet and greet at 6:30pm

Where: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum - 1171 Main Street, St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819

Livestream: bit.ly/LtGovCandidatesForum

Cosponsors: League of Women Voters of Vermont, Vermont Commission on Women, St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Burlington Chapter)

Attorney General Forum: September 29

When: Thursday, September 29 from 7 to 8:30pm; meet and greet at 6:30pm

Where: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum - 1171 Main Street, St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819

Livestream: bit.ly/AttorneyGenForum

Cosponsors: League of Women Voters of Vermont, Vermont Commission on Women, ACLU Vermont, St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Burlington Chapter)

The post 2022 Candidate Forums: Lieutenant Governor & Attorney General appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

A few weeks ago, we provided an update on bills to watch as we approached the “crossover” deadline of the 2022 Vermont legislative session. Crossover is the deadline for bills to move from one legislative chamber to the other. Bills that don’t make the crossover deadline are shelved for the rest of the year unless they are granted an exemption.

Now that the dust has settled, here’s an update on key legislation advanced by the ACLU and our allies. Since the legislature is scheduled to adjourn in May, all bills need to pass before then or they will need to restart the whole process next January.  

Passed

Gender affirming birth certificates. H.628, a bill that makes it easier for people to amend their birth certificates to accurately reflect their gender identity, passed in both the House and the Senate. At a time when legislators around the country have introduced scores of anti-trains bills, we want to thank and recognize all of our allies who took the lead on passing this bill in Vermont. It now heads to the governor’s desk, where he is expected to sign in into law.

On the move

After the crossover deadline, the House of Representatives passed several bills over to the Senate that advance our Smart Justice campaign goals of reducing incarceration and combatting racial disparities in our criminal legal system.

Tracking racial disparities in our criminal legal system. H. 546 would create the Division of Racial Justice statistics to identify and help address disparities across the system. After years of advocating for data transparency, we are excited to see this bill advance with an accompanying appropriation in the budget. We hope the Senate Judiciary and Appropriations Committees will pass the bill with some improvements before the end of the session.

Reforming sentencing practices. The House also passed a handful of bills directly addressing sentencing practices that drive up incarceration rates. H.475 and H.505 reduce statutory sentences for a wide range of crimes including drug possession, and H.399 would require the court to consider someone’s status as a primary caregiver when making decisions about incarceration.

Paired with H.87, a bill passed last year that lowers penalties for property crimes, these bills represent a significant step forward in reforming our sentencing laws and creating a smarter criminal legal system. We hope the Senate Judiciary takes up and passes these bills before the end of the session.

Immigration arrests at courthouses. The Senate passed S.140, a bill that would prohibit arrests for immigration purposes at Vermont courthouses, promoting equal access to justice and better ensuring that everyone can feel safe and secure when they need to go to court. The impact of immigration enforcement at courthouses greatly undermines the security of vulnerable communities and the fundamental right to equal protection under the law. This bill is now in front of the House Judiciary Committee, where we and our allies have testified in support.

Studies, studies, and more studies

Due primarily to the obstruction and opposition of state law enforcement leaders, several police reforms bills have been watered down to a collection of studies. The fate of these bills has called into question the extent of Vermont’s stated commitment to reimagine policing and address systemic racism.

Ending qualified immunity. S.254 would have eliminated qualified immunity and made it easier for victims of police misconduct to get justice in civil court. But this version bears little resemblance to the original bill. Instead of ending qualified immunity for police who violate Vermonters’ rights, as proposed in the original draft, the bill now calls for an independent analysis of qualified immunity so the legislature has more information to act on this year.

Reforming policing practices. H.635, a bill that would change how police handle minor traffic offenses, and S.250, a bill to increase police accountability, also met similar fates, with most of the provisions in each bill being modified from requiring changes in practice to mandating studies for future legislative sessions. Some key components of S.250 did survive, including the creation of a database of untrustworthy cops and requirements that felony interrogations be videotaped.

While we are disappointed with these short-term setbacks, we are committed to advancing more bold legislation and holding police accountable when they violate Vermonters’ civil rights.

“On the wall” and going nowhere

A bill that isn’t going anywhere is literally stuck “on the wall”. Committees track all the bills assigned to them using pieces of paper on cork boards. When a bill is stuck “on the wall” that means it won’t be brought up for debate or advanced “off the wall” to another committee.

Removing armed cops from schools. Unfortunately, one bill that appears stuck on the wall for the rest of the session is S.63, which would remove armed police from Vermont schools. Despite numerous calls to advance the bill from hundreds of activists, this bill failed to receive even one hearing from the Senate Education Committee since it was introduced last January.

Again and again, it appears that there is a dwindling appetite for lawmakers to take on issues of police reform and accountability the more time passes since the murder of George Floyd and the racial justice protests of 2020. We will be fighting to ensure this trend does not continue in the next biennium.

What’s next?

As we head into the final weeks of this year’s legislative session, we will be working with our legislative and community allies to ensure these important bills are as strong as possible and that they make it over the finish line.

Sign up for email alerts and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on the latest opportunities to get involved in our work and make your voice heard.

The post 2022 Legislative Session: Heading Into the Home Stretch appeared first on ACLU of Vermont.

We’re about to enter “crossover week” in the Vermont Legislature, when House and Senate lawmakers scramble to vote bills out of the committees send them “across” to the other chamber. If a piece of legislation doesn’t “cross over” to the other chamber before the deadline, it likely won’t advance any further.

At this critical juncture, we wanted to share a status update on some of our priority issue areas.

Police Reform

Ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers S.254

This session, the ACLU of Vermont has worked closely with our allies to introduce legislation that would eliminate qualified immunity for police in Vermont, a measure backed by three in four Vermonters. Not surprisingly, our efforts to make it easier for victims of police misconduct to access justice have been met with coordinated opposition and misinformation from law enforcement. 

The chances of the bill passing this year are narrowing, and though we are disappointed, we are not surprised – police reform is a long-term struggle, and we and our allies will continue fighting to eliminate qualified immunity and to reimagine public safety in Vermont.

Enhancing accountability for law enforcement officers S.250

95% of Vermonters agree that police need to be held accountable when they violate someone’s rights. S.250 includes several measures that would enhance accountability systems for police in Vermont, such as ending qualified immunity, improving data collection, improving training requirements, creating a database of untrustworthy police officers, and prohibiting the use of confessions gained with false information. The bill is currently in the Senate Government Operations Committee and testimony is expected to continue after the town meeting break.

Prohibiting civil arrests at courthouses S.140

When immigration agents are allowed to conduct arrests in courthouses, tremendous harm results. Courts cannot operate fairly and effectively, and people cannot access justice when they do not feel safe appearing in person. S.140 addresses these harms by prohibiting “civil arrests” in Vermont courthouses.

We testified in support of the bill, which is currently in the Senate Judiciary committee, and expected to be sent to the Senate for a full vote before the crossover deadline.

Smart Justice

Racial justice statistics H.546

Good public policy requires good information.  Without data, our court system cannot address persistent racial disparities and other bad outcomes, and that’s why getting comprehensive data from across our criminal legal system remains a top priority for the ACLU of Vermont. 

Thankfully, a bill to help close the data gaps in our system passed the House Judiciary Committee and should come up for a full vote of the House soon. This bill makes significant improvements, but it also creates unnecessary delays, and we will continue advocating to get the data we need to address the disparities in our criminal legal system as soon as possible.

Reclassifying penalties for unlawfully possessing, dispensing, and selling a regulated drug H.505

A recent study by The Council of State Governments found that Black people are fourteen times more likley than white people to be defendants in felony drug cases in Vermont. In response, H.505 would reclassify drug possession offenses so that they are no longer felony crimes, one step towards addressing the racial disparities that plague our legal system.

The bill is in the House Judiciary committee, and we expect to see it headed to the full House for approval.  We support the intent of this bill, but hope lawmakers will continue to move forward with efforts to institute a public health approach to drug use, including by decriminalizing personal possession of drugs in Vermont.

Classification system for criminal offenses against persons H.475

Reducing unnecessary sentence lengths is one of the best tools we have to fight mass incarceration in Vermont. H.475 continues important work done by the Sentencing Commission and the House Judiciary to create uniformity in our laws and reduce unnecessarily long prison sentences. We are in strong support of the provisions of this bill that reduce sentence lengths, though we will continue to push back on provisions in the bill that would increase sentences or fines.

The bill is being debated by the House Judiciary Committee, and if it reaches the Senate, we hope the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up H.475 along with H.87. H.87 was passed by the House last year and would raise Vermont’s felony threshold and reduce sentence lengths for property crimes.

Reproductive Freedom

Reproductive Liberty Amendment Prop 5

We know that the right to decide if and when to become a parent is critical to an individual’s dignity and well-being. Despite unprecedented attacks around the country, Vermont is once again leading the way in defending this fundamental right.

This January, we testified in support of Proposition 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment, and celebrated the historic moment when it passed the House.

This November, Vermont voters will have the opportunity to make Vermont the first state to explicitly enshrine reproductive liberty in our state constitution by passing the Reproductive liberty Amendment. Pledge to vote yes today and learn how to get involved in the campaign!

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