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DOC commissioner: H.550 largely mirrors department policy; no known assaults in Vermont facilities
Summary
At a Senate Institutions hearing on H.550, Commissioner John Murad said he is unaware of assaults by transgender women in Vermont facilities, described existing DOC policies and safety carve-outs, and warned that codifying older PREA language could reduce the department's operational flexibility. The committee did not vote.
Commissioner John Murad told the Vermont Senate Institutions Committee on April 30 that he has "no knowledge of any such occurrences in our Vermont facilities" when asked about testimony from a women's group asserting that housing transgender women who retain male genitalia could reduce safety for women in prisons.
Murad, who identified himself as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, said many of the safety protections in H.550 are already reflected in DOC policy. "There are numerous carve outs around safety in H.550 and in our existing policy," he said, adding that someone whose offenses, size or violence make them unsafe for a women's facility would not be placed there "irrespective of that person's identity." The committee did not take a vote on the bill at the hearing.
The bi…
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