IN JAN. 28’S FINAL READING…
Lawmakers ponder a transformation of Vermont’s prisons, conversations are brewing to regulate police officers’ use of deadly force and a new bill would allow emojis on Vermonters’ license plates — but not in the way you might think.
THE TOP TAKE
The words “justice reinvestment” might cause your eyes to glaze over, but it’s a subject with wide-ranging implications for the judiciary and corrections system — and, more crucially, for Vermont’s inmates and former inmates.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill, Bill no. 20-0835, that’s designed to fix aspects of the criminal justice system that trap offenders in a feedback loop of recidivism, and often sends those on furlough or parole back to prison for minor offenses.
“We need to move away from an offense-centered system to a risk-centered system,” said committee chair Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington. “There are people who should be incarcerated, but we need to make sure we’re not incarcerating others.”
The bill would enact changes to the state’s furlough system and allow for added earned good time, and boost services for ex-inmates, such as housing, addiction counseling and job training. There would be a $2 million, up-front investment in those services, but over time the state would actually save money by reducing the inmate population.
On Tuesday morning, Attorney General TJ Donovan appeared before the committee to give a full-throated endorsement of the legislation. “These are good people,” he said of the vast majority of offenders. “Most people want to be successful. We should give them the tools to be successful.”
Donovan and members of the committee were clearly on the same page. “This is a refreshing conversation, from the point of view of criminal defense law,” said the panel’s lone Republican and a practicing defense attorney, Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia.
Donovan testified about visiting prisons in Germany. “They are well lit, quiet, more like dormitories than prisons,” he said. “Inmates leave to go to work in the morning and come back at night.”
That model, he said, integrates incarceration with rehabilitation — as opposed to the American system of holding prisoners behind bars and then releasing them with little to no support. He even floated the notion of repurposing one of Vermont’s closed college campuses. “Could we do something transformational?” Donovan pondered. “It may be pie in the sky, but it’s worth thinking about.”
Sears said his committee will give preliminary approval to the bill by the end of the week. – John Walters
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
— The Department for Children and Families has come out against a child advocate position to oversee state agencies looking after children. Christine Johnson, deputy commissioner of DCF, told lawmakers in House Human Services that the position would be redundant.
Rep. Anne Pugh, D-South Burlington, pushed back on one of the oversight groups Johnson mentioned, the Vermont Citizens Advisory Board. The board is made up of mostly state employees, which erodes its impartiality, Pugh said. The child advocate would be independent. – Grace Elletson
— House General is taking up a resolution, J.R.H. 7, that would issue a formal apology on behalf of the Vermont Legislature for its role in the eugenics movement and sterilization of the Abenaki people, people of mixed race, French-Canadians, the poor and people with disabilities.
In 1931, the Legislature passed a bill titled “An Act for Human Betterment By Voluntary Sterilization” which would give doctors the ability to sterilize people considered “idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded or insane.” – Grace Elletson
— Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, testified Tuesday before a joint meeting of House Judiciary and House Government Operations on H. 808, a bill she is sponsoring that would limit when a police officer could use deadly force.
The proposed legislation is modeled after a measure that went into effect last year in California, where police can now only use deadly force when “necessary,” or when there are no other options. Donahue said she introduced the legislation to start a dialogue about the current standard in Vermont. – Alan Keays
— Northeast Kingdom residents lined Statehouse committee rooms Tuesday as part of NEK Day. Shawn Tester, CEO of Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, summed up many of the day’s themes in a story he told the House Rural Caucus:
His sister and her wife wanted to move back to the Kingdom after years away, admiring its rural lifestyle. Tester’s sister had a remote job, and her wife had accepted an offer in the area. But they recently gave up their plans after failing to find a place with high-speed internet. – Justin Trombly
— Secretary of State Jim Condos made it clear at Saturday’s Democratic State Committee meeting that he will seek a sixth term in office. “I haven’t announced yet, but I am running for re-election,” the Democrat said. “I still have work to do.”
Condos pointed to the work he’s done to make it easier for Vermonters to vote, specifically for New Americans in Burlington and Winooski. “We’re translating the ballots into six languages,” he said. The six are Nepali, Burmese, Swahili, Arabic, Somali and French. – John Walters
— While on the floor this morning, House members held a moment of silence to honor the life of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant and the seven others who died in a helicopter crash Sunday. The request was made by Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie, D-White River Junction. – Grace Elletson
— Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, was desperately searching for the top of her favorite mug Tuesday afternoon. She said she lost it somewhere between the Senate chamber and the cafeteria. Any tips on the missing coffee mug top can be directed to [email protected]. – Grace Elletson
— Brenda Siegel, a progressive activist and former gubernatorial candidate, officially announced her candidacy for lieutenant governor on the Statehouse steps Tuesday. She joins Assistant AG Molly Gray and Chittenden County Sens. Tim Ashe and Debbie Ingram in the Democratic field.
What makes her stand out from the field? “I am the only person in this race who is community organizing and community leading,” she said, “and if we want to have an engaged electorate, we have to have a community leader at the helm.” – Xander Landen
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
A new piece of legislation, H.866, is giving Vermont some national attention. Rep. Becca White, D-White River Junction, introduced a bill this session to allow emojis on Vermont license plates. And whether you’re all “heart eyes” or “thinking face” about this bill, White said the national coverage has largely missed the legislation’s point.
VTDigger’s Grace Elletson caught up with White to learn more about the bill.
GE: Tell me more about this bill.
BW: I have a lovely constituent, named Gene Cassidy… Gene came up to me and said ‘Becca I have this idea that will really engage youth in the legislative process and potentially bring young people into the state.’ I was like ‘Gene, let’s get coffee, let’s sit down.’ … He told me about the emoji on license plate idea. He told me about Queensland, Australia, they did it too.
GE: And it would literally be texting emojis on your license plate?
BW: So this is why it’s gotten so much national press, is the misunderstanding that, with your six digits on your license plate, it’s not that you would replace a “one” with a smiley face or an “A” with a fire emoji. You would get a specialty plate with an emoji, like if you had a veteren’s plate with a flag. So I think the national press heard it as we’re going to be replacing it, as a number or a letter, and that’s not what it is.
GE: Do you have an idea of what the six emoji options would be for license plates?
BW: It’s so funny, everybody keeps asking me that. And I’m like, ‘No, it’s up to the committee!’ I will say I don’t think the bill will get a lot of traction in committee. It’s a cool idea, out-of-the-box thinking, and I’m so happy this constituent brought it to me. … But I’ll leave it up to the committee to decide and I don’t think we’ll see it on the floor.
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