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A Vermont Just Justice member wrote this letter to the Vermont Senate Judiciary committee in support of S.119,

An act relating to a public health response to drug use

Dear Senators,

Our organization, Vermont Just Justice, is writing to you in regard to the recent bill sent to your committee. This bill is intended to decriminalize the personal use of drugs that are currently classified as a criminal offense. The legislative wording states a clear understanding of:
• drug misuse as a public health crisis with fatal overdoses significantly rising
• criminal justice response ineffective and expensive
• criminal legal response detrimental to individuals, families, people of color, or those living in poverty
• criminal legal ramifications continue to keep people with addictions in poverty, and adversely affects their children, and families by inhibiting housing, education, benefits and income
• increases needless incarceration
• addiction is a disease classified in medicine as a chronic brain disorder that responds to treatment versus punishment (more…)

Bag of Bones

The guard dragged Frank feet-first,
as if he were
one more Saturday night special,
just another drunk destined for the tank.
Fifteen minutes of chest compressions
got the COs winded by turns
and the old man no further from death. (more…)

The Vermont legislature is now in session. The session runs from the beginning of January through April, and works on a biennium system. That means that bills that are introduced have two sessions, or two years, to pass — or not pass. Sometimes bills are resubmitted in the next biennium.

We are approaching “crossover,” meaning that bills that have passed one chamber now head to the other chamber to be considered. This happens each year after town meeting day. As we approach this important time in our legislative cycle, we’ll share with you some of the bills we’re concerned about. (more…)

Listening to Vermont Public a few weeks ago, near the beginning of the 2023 legislative session, I heard a brief interview with Chittenden County Senator Ginny Lyons. Ms. Lyons was drafting a child care bill that would make child care as accessible as elementary school. Child care and early education advocates will mount a serious campaign in the coming months to ensure that no Vermont family spends more than 10% of its annual income on child care costs. (more…)

Last month state auditor Doug Hoffer released a 41-page report outlining the comprehensive failure of the Department of Corrections’ process for addressing grievances submitted by people incarcerated in Vermont’s prisons.

The auditors found that DOC is failing at essentially all of the major aspects of the grievance process. They wrote that “DOC’s process to receive and respond to grievances lacks transparency due to unreliable data, does not provide assurance that complaints are resolved, and operates without centralized accountability. Specifically, there were significant deficiencies in the (1) accuracy and completeness of DOC’s grievance data, (2) responses to grievances, and (3) executive oversight of the process.” (more…)

Hope is a powerful word.

It can get anyone through a hard time.

If you are lucky enough to get up for another day, you must have hope to guide you through the day. (more…)

On the morning of January 1, 2023, Henry Butson passed away in Springfield, Vermont, making him the state’s first incarcerated person to die this year. Henry was 74 years old. He had been incarcerated for 20 years. He would have been eligible for parole in 2028.

I met Henry several times while visiting my husband at Southern State Correctional Facility. Henry would occasionally get visits from his daughter, and sometimes grandchildren were present. He had a hello and a small joke for us as he passed us on his way to his seat. He always seemed in a cheerful mood, although that could have been, in part, the anticipation of visiting with his family. (more…)