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The failure of leadership on matters related to human rights and criminal justice lays at the feet of both Governor Scott and the legislature, Democratic and Republicans alike. Representatives at the Vermont Department of Corrections informed me that there is a “voracious appetite” from the Governor’s office and the Legislature to ‘lock people up.”  Meanwhile, I’m hearing from people at facilities throughout Vermont who are forced to sleep three and four people in cells designed for two people. It should come as little surprise that the entire “correctional systems” in Vermont are broken.

It appears our Vermont communities have taken steps to either ignore criminal justice matters or revert to the tactics of “lock them up and throw away the key.”  The Governor sits in Montpelier maneuvering and manipulating the state in to believing that we have a big problem with crime. We don’t. Vermont consistently ranks as one of the safest states in the country. And while Phil Scott espouses his “aw shucks” political theory, taking veiled jabs at the legislature, and not doing anything to attempt to resolve the issues, Vermont is facing a crisis.

According to information on the Department of Corrections website, in April 2020 there were 283 people detained pre-trial in Vermont prisons. In April 2024, that number rose to 445, and on April 2, 2025 that number was 505. We are going the wrong way.  What, in the name of everything, is the legislature doing? Nothing. In truth, the House Judiciary and its leadership, in conjunction with the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, sit on their hands.

Our small state holds the distinction of being the only New England State that uses the insidious practice of relying on the for-profit prison system. Congratulations to the legislature for failing to resolve the issue. With 36-plus pieces of legislation in the legislature attempting to tackle these issues (with multiple addressing the issue of use of private facilities), and only six having any movement, the legislature has taken exactly zero testimony from impacted families and populations.

There are legislators who are openly attacking people convicted of a criminal offense in our “brave little state.” These bloviating prognosticators in Montpelier have no knowledge of what it means to be involved and impacted by the broken criminal justice system, or what it is like to sleep on the concrete floor, with your head close to a toilet being used by three or more people. What it means to be separated by 1,428.5 miles (distance from Montpelier to Tallahatchie Mississippi, where Vermonters are held) from your family. It would be a good thing to hear from impacted people, families, and advocates.

April is “Second Chance Month,” a nationally recognized celebration of fresh starts and breaking barriers for people who have impacted by the legal systems. The elected officials in our little corner of the world can’t take the time to listen to those impacted, those sitting in our facilities with little or no support, those families without contact with their loved ones, and seemingly have no empathy for these voting citizens. Montpelier, from the freshman legislator to the leadership in both chambers, to the executive offices, have an obligation to represent all Vermonters.

Now what are you prepared to do?

— Tim Burgess, Executive Director, VT CURE

Currently there is a bill in the Vermont House, H.379, called the Second Look bill, that would create a path to potential sentence relief for those serving extreme sentences—15 years or longer. The text of the bill is here.

Tell your House Representative that you support H.379. Find your representative here.

In prison, you are not supplied with all your needs by the Department of Corrections (DOC). You are provided the bare necessities when you are admitted, but after that you are on your own. You need to purchase socks, tee shirts, shoes. You need to supplement the three prison meals with soups and snacks. You need to purchase personal hygiene products. You can only do this through the prison commissary, run under a contract with a company called Keefe Group. Your loved ones on the outside can only purchase items for you through the prison commissary. And the commissary is expensive, more expensive than on the outside. (more…)

On Wednesday, November 6, the Brattleboro Commons published a piece in their Voices section, Prison Educator Fired for Writing a Poem. The poem itself was also published, Elegy to Gary Partridge. If you have not read these pieces, I strongly urge you to do so. They are very moving, and describe an ongoing situation at our Vermont prisons that affects the safety of the residents there, particularly neurodivergent people. Below is the letter to the editor I wrote and which was published the following week.

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The state of Vermont does not have capital punishment, yet David Mitchell, an incarcerated Vermonter died gasping for air. 28 VSA 801 states: a)The Department shall provide health care for inmates in accordance with the prevailing medical standards. Sadly, David Mitchell, 46 at the time, was not the recipient of the care our law mandates; instead, he received the death penalty. (more…)

When you hear about FreeHer VT, it’s most likely in the context of our advocacy and organizing against the state’s $90 million proposal for a new women’s prison in Essex. You can check out this zine if you are curious to learn more about why we hold that position and what kinds of alternatives we are trying to build instead. But we do much more than that and want to share a little bit about a lesser-known aspect of our organizing. (more…)

The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) has a wide range of responsibilities. A central one is ensuring the safety and well-being of all the people under its care. This includes the residents in the six Vermont prisons and a facility in Mississippi. The total changes constantly, but currently is around 1300. A steel bed to sleep on, three meals a day, health care provided by an outside vendor. Mental health personnel to help residents cope with incarceration. Corrections officers (COs)paid to watch over us and to ensure that violence is not visited on us by other residents. (more…)

In general, the past biennial of the Vermont legislature was not a great one for criminal legal reform in the state. Although overall the number of incarcerated people in Vermont has decreased over recent years, the legislature has increased the penalties for some low-level crimes, for instance retail theft, which will most likely have the effect of increasing the prison population. The best way to address property crimes of this nature is to address homelessness, addiction, and poverty. Vermont needs to understand what drives crime in order to address it. (more…)

There is a unique exhibit at Brattleboro’s Brooks Memorial Library for the months of June and July. Finding Hope Within showcases writing, drawing, collage, and crochet from women incarcerated in the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, Vermont’s only women’s prison. The show includes some poetry that has been set and illustrated in letterpress by A Revolutionary Press in South Burlington, one of the exhibit’s curators. The library is also hosting some events related to incarceration to complement the art exhibit. (more…)

March 15th was the last legislative session before crossover. Crossover is when bills that have passed out of one chamber, house or senate, get passed to the other, senate or house, to be taken up, And since this is the second year of our legislative biennial, any bill that hasn’t “made the crossover” will need to be refiled the following year. (more…)