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Profiting off jailed Vermonters

Amidst concerns over the mistreatment of Vermonters in a Pennsylvania private prison, the Department of Corrections has made the baffling decision to move Vermonters even further away, to Mississippi. https://vtdigger.org/2018/09/09/vermont-prisoners-moved-mississippi-prison-run-corecivic/ This decision comes on the heels of questions regarding Governor Scott receiving financial support from private prison lobbyists and plans to open a private prison in Vermont. https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2018/01/26/scott-met-with-private-prison-lobbyists-prior-to-pitching-plan

What’s wrong with private prisons:

• Private prisons make money by imprisoning people, and thanks to government contracts that promise these companies 90-100% occupancy, law enforcement officials carry an undue burden to criminalize behavior, which undermines trust between the police and their communities and puts us all at risk.
• Private prisons don’t save us any money https://www.afsc.org/resource/arizona-prison-Report
• Private prisons have a record of high prisoner deaths, under-staffing, and over-crowding https://www.npr.org/2016/08/25/491340335/investigation-into-private-prisons-reveals-crowding-under-staffing-and-inmate-de

We encourage you to share your thoughts on the new plan to move Vermont prisoners to Mississippi.

Contact Governor Phil Scott: 802 828-3333 or http://governor.vermont.gov/contact-us/message

Contact Attorney General T.J. Donovan: 802 828-3171 or ago.civilrights@vermont.gov or Vermont Attorney General’s Office, 109 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1001

Thank you!