News & Commentary

A year ago, we wrote about Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, a coalition of groups (including the ACLU-VT) working to end mass incarceration and establish a more restorative and effective criminal justice system in Vermont. It appears that many in the state agree with this goal. State officials are holding a series of public hearings around the state to gather public opinion on a possible legislative resolution that would call for shifting the focus of the criminal justice system away from incarceration.

A state official has outlined the rationale for Big Brother-like collection of information about Vermonters: If we're charged with a crime, we should have access to information that can prove our innocence. Government, in other words, should focus on data collection that might prove who HASN'T committed a crime rather than show who HAS committed a crime.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that marriage is a fundamental right and must be made available equally to straight and gay couples. The majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who said: "It is now clear that the challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and it must be further acknowledged that they abridge central precepts of equality . . . Especially against a long history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial to same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and continuing harm. The imposition of this disability on gays and lesbians serves to disrespect and subordinate them. And the Equal Protection Clause, like the Due Process Clause, prohibits this unjustified infringement of the fundamental right to marry."

When news stories appeared in 2006 alleging phone companies were turning over customer call records to the NSA, the ACLU-VT decided to find out if this was happening in Vermont. Our inquiry before the state Public Service Board was stopped by the federal government -- on state secrets grounds. In 2013 Edward Snowden confirmed bulk collection of Americans' phone records was happening. Now it will stop. Pro-surveillance hawks caved this week during a late-night Senate session in the U.S. Capitol after realizing they didn't have the votes to keep the Patriot Act intact.

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A federal appeals court has unanimously ruled that the National Security Agency's phone-records surveillance program is unlawful. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York held that the statute the government is relying on to justify the bulk collection of phone records -- Section 215 of the Patriot Act -- does not permit the gathering of Americans' sensitive information on such a massive scale.

Within the last two weeks, two Vermont State Police troopers have resigned in disgrace -- one after driving on the job allegedly inebriated, another after posting derogatory comments and images on social media sites. Yet neither appears at risk of losing the certification that allows them to be Vermont law enforcement officers. Intemperance and bias don't, under current rules, count as grounds to disqualify someone from being a cop. That could have changed this legislative session -- but complaints from law enforcement blocked the effort.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has initiated a massive national license plate reader program with major civil liberties concerns but disclosed very few details, according to new DEA documents obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act. The DEA is currently operating a National License Plate Recognition initiative that connects DEA license plate readers with those of other law enforcement agencies around the country.

Our friends at the New England First Amendment Coalition are looking for a New Englander who has fought for information crucial to the public's understanding of their community or of what their government is doing.