Like the majority of Vermonters who have spoken on this issue, we support this important initiative—and we will push our leaders to go beyond words and take meaningful action.
This discussion is part of a broader
national conversation that has
unlikely partners from across the
ideological and
political spectrums. This unusual convergence is possible because, in mass incarceration, there’s something for everyone to dislike: it’s exorbitantly
expensive , it’s
ineffective , it’s
inhumane , it’s
discriminatory , it’s a
mental illness and
substance abuse/addiction , it’s a driver of
recidivism and the
hollowing out of communities , it’s an unfortunate but predicatable result of an
explosion in the
number of criminal offenses , and the list goes on.
However, the packed Congressional calendar filling up the rest of this year and the realities of the attention shift to the 2016 elections in the new year raise concerns that the push for reform may
lose momentum on the national level.
That is why state-based initiatives will remain so important. It may well be up to the states—those “
laboratories of democracy ”—to lead the way in demonstrating that
smart criminal justice reform will make our communities safer, kinder, healthier, and wealthier. We believe that Vermont should be at the forefront of this effort.
-- Lia Ernst, staff attorney/public advocate