Rep. Charles “Butch” Shaw is the vice chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont provoked controversy in the House of Representatives this week after criticizing lawmakers’ corrections reform efforts.
The civil liberties organization sent an email to members claiming House lawmakers are “prioritizing prisons over people” and asked Vermonters to write to their representatives demanding criminal justice reforms.
The email was sent out as the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions continues work to move a funding bill, H.543, that includes $250,000 to study the construction of a new facility for the state’s female prisoners, currently housed at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility.
Beginning early last week, lawmakers in both the House Republican and Democratic caucuses were grumbling about the ACLU email, with members of the corrections committee saying it was a mischaracterization of their work.
The email calls for a state study into “incarceration alternatives” to cut the state’s female prison population before allocating a quarter of a million dollars to plan the construction of a new prison.
On Friday, members of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions took James Duff Lyall, the executive director for the ACLU of Vermont, to task for sending the email.
Committee vice chair Rep. Charles “Butch” Shaw, R-Pittsford, told Lyall he disagreed with the insinuation that he and the committee were not concerned with female prisoners and only wanted to build new prisons.
“When you say that I prioritize building a new prison over more humane alternatives, that’s an insult to me personally and I object,” Shaw said. ”You don’t know me. And I don’t know you. But that is an inflammatory statement.”
Shaw, who described himself as previously being a “lock them up law order guy,” said he has learned that arresting and incarcerating more people is not the answer to stopping crime in the state, but that it is critical the Chittenden facility be upgraded.
“If we don’t look at replacing facilities, we are not doing our due diligence and are not doing the people that are incarcerated any good,” Shaw said. “We’re doing harm if we don’t talk about this.”
James Duff Lyall is the executive director of the Vermont ACLU. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
Lyall said it was not his intention to wage personal attacks against members of the committee and that he hoped they could have constructive conversations about corrections reform.
“I do think we want the same things, and we can have a disagreement about how we can get there. We can have a heated disagreement, and I hope it is not taken personally,” Lyall said.
At the beginning of the legislative session, Senate leadership had made finding ways to cut the prison population a priority. But since the bill that would fund plans for a new prison moved from the Senate to the House, there has been little discussion on the topic.
Last month, Lyall, Attorney General TJ Donovan, and other advocates sent a letter to Senate Committee on Institutions requesting a study of alternatives to incarceration of the female prison population.
But since the House committee took control of the legislation, discussion of a study has been dropped, and the ACLU had not testified on lawmakers’ decision to fund the plan for a new prison.
The Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Rep. Sara Coffey, D-Guilford, who is also an ACLU member, said there is time to continue the debate on rehabilitation programs and other methods to cut down on the prison population, but the women’s prison in Chittenden needs to be upgraded immediately.
“I’ve been to the correctional facility in Chittenden, and I’ve spoken with women there,” Coffey said. “That facility is like a detention facility. It’s dungeon-like. ”
Karen Tronsgard-Scott, the executive director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said the discussion with lawmakers about alternative incarceration techniques must continue.
In an interview with VTDigger, Tronsgard-Scott said Vermont has an opportunity to think about how it can heal incarcerated women’s trauma and make them productive members of society.
“We are uniquely positioned to do this with how we incarcerate women. So we can do this, we can do it cost effectively and we can do it collaboratively,” Tronsgard-Scott said.
Some members of the House corrections panel appear to be less than enthusiastic about inmate rehabilitation and other reforms proposed by the ACLU.
On Friday, Rep. Marcia Martel, R-Waterford, told Lyall there are two women from her town that are convicted of murder and that she doesn’t care much about what happens to them.
“They can rot,” Martel said. “And I don’t feel sorry for them.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: ACLU email draws ire from lawmakers, sparks criminal justice debate.