News & Commentary

Joseph Montagno needed help, and until last year had no idea that the City of Burlington would punish him for asking for it. In 2015 and 2016 his Burlington apartment was vandalized and burglarized, and he received threats from a neighbor. Mr. Montagno and many other tenants in his building made multiple calls for police assistance that year, unaware that merely calling for help could put their housing at risk.

The ACLU of VT has received a significant number of complaints about law enforcement actions at the Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering in Mount Tabor. We're keeping a watchful eye on developments as the gathering continues. We hope gathering attendees will be allowed to exercise their rights to free expression and assembly without unnecessary disruption or an unreasonable police response.

The city of Burlington has been working on its decades-old (and neglected) mask ordinance, updating it and trying to make it constitutional. While recent proposed changes are an improvement, they're not enough. The redraft of the ordinance, soon to come before the city council for adoption, is unconstitutionally vague. In practical terms, the ordinance would likely continue to be highly susceptible to selective enforcement by police. It's also duplicative of other criminal statutes, such as laws on disorderly conduct and simple assault. Bottom line: It's not ready for prime time.

An ACLU-VT review of panhandling ordinances on the books in several Vermont municipalities shows that local laws contain provisions that are similar to panhandling laws in three other states recently thrown out by three different federal courts.

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A Vermont superior court has ruled in favor of a Franklin woman who challenged her town's inclusion of prayer in town meeting proceedings.