Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Federal immigration authorities used a civilian informant to infiltrate meetings of Migrant Justice as part of a larger, sustained surveillance campaign that targeted members for their activism, the group alleges in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington.
The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles has been helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to engage in an illegal effort to “harass, arrest and detain” farmworker activists, Migrant Justice said in a statement. Its suit names ICE, DHS and the DMV as defendants.
The plaintiffs are represented by a coalition of activists and legal heavyweights: the ACLU of Vermont, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, the National Immigration Law Center, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a large law firm headquartered in Los Angeles.
Tags: Migrant Justice , U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , Department of Homeland Security , Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles , Will Lambek , ACLU of Vermont , Center for Constitutional Rights , National Center for Law and Economic Justice , National Immigration Law Center , Gibson Dunn & Crutcher , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Burlington resident Reed Doyle says he saw officers threaten to pepper-spray a group of children in Roosevelt Park in June 2017. Doyle said that as one of the youths walked backward with his hands up, an officer pushed him forcefully with both arms. The boy, who appeared to be 11 to 13 years old, protested and was arrested, Doyle claims.
Doyle submitted a written complaint to the police department and police commission. Frustrated by what he said was a lack of followup, he filed a public records request for body camera footage.
Tags: ACLU , Burlington police , Vermont Supreme Court , body camera , use of force , public records , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
But when he woke up Tuesday morning, the stalks had been stripped. Plants that had been bursting with ready-to-harvest cannabis flower were barren.
Krawczyk was devastated.
“We put a lot of care and energy into the plants,” Krawczyk said. “It’s a bummer. We were excited it was legal.”
He and his wife had planted the cannabis behind chickenwire in their 2,000-square-foot garden shortly after Vermont legalized weed on July 1. The property is shielded from Route 7 by a hedgerow, and Krawczyk said the plants weren’t visible from the road, where cars go whizzing by at 55 miles per hour. He theorized that someone scoped out their property, likely from an adjacent hayfield.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , marijuana , weed , Vermont , legalization , plants , recreational , hemp , pot , thefts , Image , Web Only , Video
Thursday, September 20, 2018
The state’s chief health care advocate, Michael Fisher, told the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee on Thursday that the Department of Corrections had only treated one inmate for hepatitis C in 2017.
Antiviral drugs can cure hepatitis C, an infectious disease that can lead to liver cancer and other potentially fatal complications. The virus, transmitted by blood, is more common among prisoners than the general population.
Fisher also directed lawmakers' attention to a significant amount of unspent money. In 2017, the Department of Corrections paid about $4.8 million to its private health care contractor, Centurion, for pharmaceutical drugs and off-site medical expenses, according to information Fisher provided the committee. Centurion only spent about $2.6 million, however.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , Al Gobeille , ACLU of Vermont , hepatitis C , Michael Fisher , Ben Watts , Image , Web Only
The state’s chief health care advocate, Michael Fisher called the statistics “very, very concerning.”
Fisher was part of a coalition of organizations that successfully pushed the state’s Medicaid health insurance program to start paying this year for hepatitis C medication for patients who don’t yet have liver damage.
Now advocates are turning their attention to Vermont’s prisons, where alarmingly few inmates are receiving the antiviral drugs that can cure hepatitis C, according to Fisher.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , health care advocate , American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont , Hepatitis C , Jay Diaz , Michael Fisher , Ben Watts , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
The Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility is operated by CoreCivic, the corporate prison contractor formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America.
Vermont will pay CoreCivic $71 per day for each of the state’s roughly 200 inmates who are housed out of state, according to a Vermont DOC press release. There is room for up to 350 Vermont inmates in the 2,600-person facility in Tutwiler, Miss. The per diem amount will increase annually; the contract runs for a minimum of two years with an option for two more.
Tags: CoreCivic , Corrections Corporation of America , Vermont Department of Corrections , Camp Hill , Pennsylvania , interstate compact , inmates , Image , Web Only
Friday, September 7, 2018
In a highly unusual move, Burlington police on Friday publicly criticized prosecutors for not pursuing criminal charges against a Colchester man who claimed self-defense for his role in a downtown shooting that injured an innocent bystander.
Carl Martin was charged in August with aggravated assault, aggravated disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment for his alleged actions in the February incident.
According to police, Martin's brother had a long-simmering dispute with Rashad Nashid over a woman. The men ran into each other at Nectar's on Main Street one February night and began arguing. Nashid later left and went next door to Esox, another bar.
But he and Carl Martin continued to argue while both were outside smoking. Martin eventually punched Nashid in the face, prompting both men to pull handguns. Nashid fired, according to cops, hitting the 27-year-old bystander.
Tags: Brandon del Pozo , Sarah George , Burlington police , Carl Martin , Rashad Nashid , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only
Friday, August 31, 2018
In a long-awaited decision, justices ruled 4-1 that the 2015 law, which forbids the distribution of sexually explicit images without the subject’s consent, is constitutional.
In an interview, Defender General Matt Valerio called the decision "bizarre," and said his office is contemplating a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
Justices said revenge porn represents the "highest" violation of privacy, noting that it is illegal for doctors or banks to disclose personal information about patients or clients. Forty states have enacted laws against revenge porn, justices wrote.
Tags: Vermont Supreme Court , revenge porn , Beth Robinson , Marilyn Skoglund , Matt Valerio , Bennington County , First Amendment , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Some of Vermont's most competitive primaries Tuesday were at the county level. The campaign season was unusually intense for judgeships in Chittenden County. Elsewhere, three county prosecutors fought — one unsuccessfully — to keep their jobs.
Here is what happened in some of the races we've been following:
Lamoille County State's Attorney Paul Finnerty lost the Democratic primary to challenger Todd Shove. With all but one district reporting Tuesday night, Shove won with 50.3 percent to Finnerty's 34.2 percent. Finnerty, who is serving his first four-year term, promoted restorative justice during his time in office.
Shove, a career prosecutor who recently left his job to campaign, criticized Finnerty for taking the concept too far. He also campaigned on the promise of improving the relationship between prosecutors and law enforcement.
In Essex County, longtime state's attorney and former state senator Vincent Illuzzi eked out a 288 to 248 victory against political newcomer Amy Davis in the Republican primary.
Davis, 31, handles divorce, custody and family cases as a partner at the firm Bucknam Black Davis. During the campaign, she criticized Illuzzi for not giving enough attention to his part-time job as county prosecutor, which he has held since 1998. Illuzzi also works as a lobbyist for the Vermont State Employees' Association in Montpelier.
Bennington County Democrats also stuck with their prosecutor: State’s Attorney Erica Marthage beat challenger Arnie Gottlieb by just 136 votes — less than 3 percent of votes cast.
Marthage is known for her aggressive prosecutorial approach. Seven Days reported in 2016 that Bennington County, under Marthage's leadership, imprisoned more people per capita than any other county in Vermont. Gottlieb, a veteran defense attorney, called Marthage’s style overzealous.
In Chittenden County, Sheriff Kevin McLaughlin held a strong lead — 54 percent to 25 percent — in the Democratic primary against his longtime deputy Michael Major. McLaughlin has been in the office since 1987, making him the longest-serving sheriff in county history.
Major, a 34-year veteran of the department, said during the campaign that he wanted to expand the department’s budget and staff by securing new contracts to provide law enforcement staffing. He expressed support for stationing an armed deputy at all of the county’s schools.
There were four other primaries for sheriff positions in Vermont:
- In Addison County, Peter Newton beat Ron Holmes in the Democratic primary to replace outgoing Sheriff Donald Keeler Jr.
- Bennington County Democrats chose incumbent Chad Schmidt over challenger James Gulley Jr.
- Caledonia county's Republican sheriff, Dean Shatney, beat out challenger Lester Cleary III.
- Orleans County Sheriff Kirk Martin beat Jennifer Harlow Jacobs in the Republican primary.
Glennon, the brother-in-law of Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan, has been on the job since he was appointed by then-governor Peter Shumlin in 2016.
In a four-way race for two assistant judgeships in Chittenden county, newcomer Suzanne Brown and incumbent Connie Cain Ramsey beat out Assistant Judge Charles Delaney and challenger Zachary York.
Tags: Kevin McLaughlin , Erica Marthage , Peter Newton , Ron Holmes , Michael Major , Arnie Gottlieb , Vince Illuzzi , primary , sheriff , prosecutor , judge , results , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 23, 2018
This gift won't legally keep giving.
Selling an item or offering a service that comes with some "free" cannabis is illegal under Vermont's new recreational marijuana law, Attorney General T.J. Donovan declared in an advisory Monday.
The interpretation of the law, which went into effect July 1 and is known as Act 86, comes after several businesses cropped up offering cannabis, edibles and vape cartridges in exchange for a delivery fee. Some entrepreneurs were also selling an overpriced item such as a sticker, T-shirt or bracelet and would throw in a "gift" of marijuana on the side. That kind of transaction is considered a marijuana sale, according to Donovan.
"Any transfer of marijuana for money, barter, or other legal consideration remains illegal under Vermont law," Donovan wrote in the advisory. He added: "Individuals may gift pursuant to the parameters set forth in the law."
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana , weed , cannabis , Vermont , gifting , gray market , T.J. Donovan , Image , Web Only