Judge Gregory Rainville railed Wednesday about the lack of court staff in Orleans County, calling it a “dire” situation for the Superior Court in the Northeast Kingdom.
He said the staffing issues affected his ability to allow a hearing to continue from the morning into the afternoon, as he took testimony on whether eight inmates being held until trial should be released from the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport in light of a major Covid-19 outbreak within its walls.
The situation became more intense later Wednesday, when test results showed nine additional cases of Covid-19 at the Newport prison, bringing to 145 the total number of infected inmates, according to Rachel Feldman, a corrections department spokesperson.
The most recent results are from testing conducted Monday.
“We have a skeleton crew at best amongst all the courts,” the judge said during the hearing for the inmates seeking to be freed from the Newport prison.. “The criminal division specifically requires three staff members in order to run efficiently and we have only one.”
Rainville said that one staff member was seated in front of him in the courtroom during hearings, leaving no one to run the rest of the court office to field phone calls and to process documents.
“It’s a dire situation,” he said.
Rainville said he wanted to take a moment during the video hearing Wednesday to put his concerns on the record.
“I don’t even have a staff person here this afternoon to continue this hearing into the afternoon,” he said as the proceeding neared its two-hour mark and the clock approached noon. “I don’t have anyone to record.”
“We can’t function without sufficient staff,” he said.
Lack of court staff is not reason enough to continue to hold the eight inmates in the Covid-stricken Newport prison, argued Kelly Green, a staff attorney in the state’s Prisoners’ Rights Office.
“You cannot take the lack of resources that you have out on individuals who are being held in prison during a pandemic where the infection is spreading,” Green said. “Release them now and come back.”
Rainville replied, “That would actually be the court’s preference.”
But, he added, he also had a responsibility to the public and to each of the defendants to take adequate time to review the eight cases and apply the appropriate law.
“That takes a little bit of time to do,” he said, and he couldn’t simply issue rulings in the cases from the bench.
Throughout the rest of the hearing, attorneys repeatedly mentioned the lack of time and the need to proceed quickly as they tried to present their arguments.
The hearing drew to a close at about 12:15 p.m.
‘Lack of good communication’
However, Patricia Gabel, Vermont’s court administrator, said after the hearing that, while there is a “staffing issue” in Orleans County, that is not why the hearing couldn’t have continued into the afternoon.
“When it became apparent that the hearings could not be concluded by noon, the judge, without consulting with the court operations manager, announced it could not be continued into the afternoon due to a staff shortage,” Gabel wrote in an email.
“In fact, there was sufficient staffing to have continued into the afternoon,” she wrote. “This inconsistency seems to have resulted from a lack of good communication between the judge and the court operations manager.”
Testing last week revealed 100 Covid-19 cases among inmates at the Newport prison, and follow-up testing last Thursday showed six more inmates were infected.
Additional testing took place Monday, but those results are not yet available.
In total during the outbreak that began in late February, 145 inmates have tested positive for Covid-19 at the Newport prison, plus 12 staff members. The prison, the largest in the state correctional system, is housing about 340 inmates.
Rainville didn’t take Green’s recommendation to release the eight prisoners immediately, instead saying, “We will do the best we can under the circumstances.”
No inmates in hospital
Orleans County State’s Attorney Jennifer Barrett and prosecutors from her office argued against release of the inmates. She cited the violent nature of the charges against some of them, and said in several cases they had repeatedly violated court orders and release conditions.
If the prisoners were released, the prosecutors added, they needed to be properly supervised by a responsible adult in the community.
Green called Annie Manhardt, a fellow prisoners’ rights office staff attorney, to testify during the hearing.
Manhardt told the court that, in talking to inmates and in some cases reviewing medical records, prisoners infected with Covid-19 have shown symptoms of the virus, from migraine headaches to shortness of breath.
In five cases, inmates had to be taken to the hospital because of their symptoms, though they were returned to the prison in just a few hours, she said.
Cullen Bullard, director of classification and facility designation for the state Department of Corrections, later testified for the prosecution. He said no inmates are currently hospitalized for Covid-19 related reasons.
“Are there any inmates who are receiving IV fluids?” Barrett asked Bullard.
“No, there is not,” he responded.
“Are there any inmates with a temperature?” Barrett said.
“No, there is not,” he replied.
He also testified about the corrections department’s efforts to separate inmates with Covid-19 from those who have tested negative.
Bullard, under questioning from Green, said inmates qualify for vaccination when they fall within the age bands and have the qualified medical conditions set by the state.
“How many Newport prisoners have been fully vaccinated?” Green said to Bullard.
“I do not have that information,” he replied.
“How many Newport prisoners have been partially vaccinated?” the attorney asked.
“I do not have that information,” Bullard responded.
At one point during the hearing, Green asked the judge that, if he was going to keep the inmates in prison, he issue a ruling right away so it could be appealed without delay, before the prisoners contracted the virus.
“Release these people right away before they get Covid,” Green said, “and then come back next week if you need to rework their conditions.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Judge blasts court system over lack of staff, rushes prisoners’ Covid-19 hearing.