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ACLU of Vermont outlines Smart Justice priorities, raises concerns about public-safety omnibus bill and racial disparities
Summary
Representatives of the ACLU of Vermont told the Senate Judiciary Committee the organization will press for reduced incarceration, attention to racial disparities and protections for privacy and vulnerable communities; they signaled concerns about elements of the governor's omnibus public-safety bill, particularly bail and penalty increases.
Falk Schilling, advocacy director at the ACLU of Vermont, and Jordan Souder, who covers judiciary and corrections for the organization, introduced the affiliate’s priorities to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 21 and urged lawmakers to weigh the downstream effects of proposals that expand incarceration or increase penalties.
"Our flagship campaign is the Smart Justice campaign," Falk Schilling said, describing the affiliate’s focus on reducing incarceration and addressing racial disparities in the criminal legal system.
Why it matters: ACLU testimony framed several policy questions the committee will consider this session — bail reform, penalties in the governor’s omnibus public-safety bill, privacy protections, roadside-stop reforms and investments in community-based services — and provided data points about incarceration and out-of-state placements that highlight fiscal and equity implications for lawmakers.
ACLU priorities and evidence Schilling described the ACLU of Vermont as one of 53 national affiliates and said the organization aims to keep advocacy focused on civil liberties across criminal justice, privacy, reproductive and housing rights. He said the affiliate has roughly 15,000 members and supporters statewide (a combined count of regular communicants and donors).
On criminal-justice strategy, Jordan Souder summarized the Smart Justice campaign and Justice Reinvestment work: Vermont’s prison population fell from its peak around 2008 by about 35 percent, the ACLU said, but racial disparities remain stark. Schilling told the committee that, based on Department of Corrections data he cited, Black Vermonters are roughly eight times more likely to be incarcerated than white Vermonters and people of Hispanic origin are about four-and-a-half times more likely to be incarcerated.
Fiscal and capacity concerns Schilling said the Department of Corrections testified recently that in-state male facilities were at about 130 percent capacity and that the state was sending roughly 150 people to out-of-state facilities (Mississippi was cited in committee testimony), at an estimated cost of about $45,000 per person per year. He noted that lowering out-of-state placements frees funds that could be reinvested in community services.
Concerns about the omnibus public-safety bill When asked about the governor’s omnibus public-safety proposal, Schilling said the ACLU had not completed a detailed review but anticipated concerns in areas including bail and any provisions that increase penalties or expand incarceration. He said the affiliate will examine constitutional implications and fiscal trade-offs as it reviews the proposal.
Other topics and community impact Schilling and Souder flagged other areas of focus: roadside-stop reforms to reduce unnecessary police contact, privacy protections for personally held and government-held data, and safeguarding rights for immigrant, LGBTQ+ and reproductive-health communities where federal policy shifts may create new state-level risks.
Ending: The ACLU representatives said they look forward to ongoing conversations with the committee and promised more detailed analysis of specific bills as they are filed and reviewed.
