Rutland Area NAACP founder Tabitha Pohl-Moore introduces Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan at a program at the Rutland Free Library. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
The question is being asked nationally by such news outlets as the Washington Post: “How, in an overwhelmingly white state, should Vermonters confront the type of racial harassment potent enough to push its only black female representative out of the legislature?”
And internationally by the likes of the BBC: “Kiah Morris case: How far do free speech protections go in the US?”
And, as Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan is discovering, seemingly everywhere in the Green Mountain State.
“I’ve received a lot of calls from a lot of Vermonters,” he says. “Obviously that’s an outcome many are disappointed in.”
What’s triggering all the talk: Donovan’s announcement this month that authorities don’t have enough evidence to bring criminal charges against those racially harassing former Bennington state Rep. Kiah Morris — even after one antagonist stepped in front of her at a press conference on the issue and started a war of words.
“It is terrorism — she was terrorized,” says Rutland Area NAACP president Tabitha Pohl-Moore, one of many social justice activists asking why law enforcement can’t do more. “I know a good number of people who are very frustrated and angry and enraged and disappointed and scared about the decision.”
Dozens showed up this week at the Rutland Free Library for a “Conversation with the AG,” which the NAACP scheduled before the latest news and Donovan used to defend the Morris ruling.
“Nobody should conflate our decision as somehow condoning racism,” Donovan told a capacity crowd. “My job is to apply the law evenly and equally based on the facts, the evidence and the law. I think we all support the First Amendment and that freedom of expression — until we hear something we don’t like. I feel very strongly that the Constitution applies to everyone, even people we dislike or disagree with or may be unpopular when they say terribly racist things.”
That response isn’t appeasing activists.
Vermont racial justice activist Curtiss Reed Jr. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
“This capitulation based on case history doesn’t hold water for me,” says Curtiss Reed Jr., executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity. “It wasn’t that he couldn’t file charges, he chose not to make this a test case. From time to time we need to challenge current legal thinking. It’s time the state’s attorney and attorney general’s offices step up to the plate and at least give the appearance of putting up a good fight.”
Morris, the first person of color elected state representative from Bennington County, served from 2014 until she resigned last fall after what she deemed “continued harassment.” In a 10-page report publicized last week, the attorney general’s office listed reported incidents ranging from a home break-in and burglary to Facebook and Twitter messages targeting Morris, her husband and their child.
“Without a doubt this was happening,” Donovan affirmed this week. “Let’s be clear about that.”
But law enforcement officials say they have yet to find legal grounds to prosecute any of the particulars.
“The fact that a number of messages were directed at her role as an elected official raises the issue of whether they were intended to express political opposition through the use of hyperbole and insult,” the report concluded.
The result has flummoxed many who say the situation wouldn’t be tolerated in a school or workplace.
“Why can’t we hold our citizens to a higher standard?” a teacher asked at the Rutland meeting. “How do we change this?”
In response, Donovan spoke of a new bias-incident reporting protocol aimed to address complaints through a civil process.
“Bias-motivated misconduct that does not constitute a crime — or that may not be provable beyond a reasonable doubt — may nonetheless be subject to civil enforcement,” the protocol states in part.
A Rutland Area NAACP public program featuring Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan drew a diverse crowd to the Rutland Free Library. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
The attorney general’s office may seek civil hate crime injunctions and compensatory damages, for example, or join with the Vermont Human Rights Commission and federal authorities to address matters under civil laws prohibiting harassment in employment, housing or public places.
Donovan also is proposing enhanced protective measures for immigrant communities, including advanced training for law enforcement in hate crime and bias incident investigation and reporting, as well as better implementation of fair and impartial policing policies by traveling to cities and towns to teach authorities there.
“I believe that, no matter where you came from, if you live in Vermont and call Vermont home, you are a Vermonter,” Donovan said. “Vermonters need to be able to trust that state and local law enforcement will work hard to protect them, regardless of where they are from.”
But many aren’t satisfied with such measures.
“To me it sounds like a Band-Aid to a gash wound, and there’s no justice that can come from it anyway,” says Steffen Gillom, president of the Brattleboro-based Windham County NAACP. “We claim to have this mission to be an inclusive state, but it shows a true problem in our system that you have to come under some direct harm to feel like anything can be done to aid you.”
The lack of criminal charges in Morris’ case, as well as the arrival of one of her antagonists at the public release of the report, is drawing commentary both statewide and nationally. Take the recent website post by Mark Hughes, executive director of Justice for All, a Montpelier-based organization that works for racial equity within Vermont’s criminal justice system.
“There never seems to be a problem figuring out how to protect white folks (alleged perpetrator or victim) and their property throughout all history,” Hughes writes. “There has never seemed to be a problem finding a law that could be applied to prosecuting black folks.”
For their part, Vermont U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch have issued a joint statement in support of Morris.
“Racism and white supremacy have no place in Vermont,” the congressional delegation said. “We must root out racism in Vermont and ensure that no elected official, candidate or person fears for their safety because of the color of their skin or their point of view.”
But many are still wrestling with the lack of action in the Morris case.
“We’re not allowed to cry fire in a theater, but I guess this is OK?” one Rutland meeting attendee asked the attorney general.
Tabitha Pohl-Moore, Rutland Area NAACP president. Courtesy photo
“Kiah Morris was a victim of racial harassment,” Donovan said in response. “But the FBI looked at these threats. They declined to bring a case. There’s not a finding we can make other than ‘insufficient evidence.’”
As for the antagonist showing up at the press conference?
“It’s a public meeting,” Donovan said.
And the man’s T-shirt bearing the cartoon character Pepe the Frog, designated a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League?
“It is objectionable,” Donovan said, “but it’s not illegal.”
The attorney general capped his comments by asking the audience to ponder another question.
“Why do we have hate and why is it so open?” he said. “Kiah Morris was not the first victim of racism in this state nor will she be the last. The challenge for Vermont is to address it. We need to listen to people of color and validate their experiences. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to be part of the solution.”
Pohl-Moore, in her own closing words, called on the rest of the state to join in.
“To say we can’t do anything about it?” she said. “More needs to be done. But as we’re holding our system accountable for the way it continues to perpetuate inequality, so too we need to recognize and hold ourselves responsible for the power we have to create an equitable community.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Lack of charges in Kiah Morris case sparks questions.