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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums85 Vermont inmates in Mississippi prison test positive for Covid-19
At this time, tests are still pending, the Vermont corrections department stated in a release Sunday afternoon. Numbers are preliminary and may change.
Mass testing of the 219 out-of-state inmates took place late last week after six prisoners who returned Tuesday to Vermont from the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, tested positive for the coronavirus after their arrival in the state.
Another Vermont inmate at the Mississippi prison also tested for Covid-19. The facility is operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest private prison operators in the country.
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At this time, she added, there are no inmates in Mississippi who we believe are symptomatic at the point that they would require medical attention.
Vermont contracted with the private prison company nearly two years ago to house inmates it doesnt have capacity to hold in facilities in-state.
The Vermont Department of Corrections is currently working to renew its contract with CoreCivic, though there are state officials and organizations, such as the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who have argued strongly against sending inmates to an out-of-state prison, particularly to one operated by a for-profit company.
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Valerio, the states defender general, said Sunday that while the Vermont Department of Corrections has done a good job to contain and prevent the spread of Covid-19 in facilities in the state, he doesnt believe the same level of care has been taken for the out-of-state inmates in Mississippi.
https://bit.ly/2DsbA4o
While Vermont is one of the states that gives prisoners the right to vote, they lose that right if they are shipped out to for-profit prisons in states where prisoners cannot vote.
These prisoners have been farmed out to covid-factory hellholes (thousands of miles from family support) where they work under deplorable conditions to put money in the pockets of investors in for-profit prisons. Something should be done.
TexasTowelie
(112,453 posts)why is Vermont sending its prisoners to Mississippi and separating them by such distances that their families cannot visit them?
Wounded Bear
(58,721 posts)the Prison Industrial Complex will go global next.
Renting out prison cells has become big business.
TexasTowelie
(112,453 posts)However, Vermont is the only state that I'm aware that sends their prisoners so far from home.
Vermont is also one of the states that wanted to dump their nuclear waste in Texas.
Vermont needs to step up to the plate and be responsible for their own messes.
sheshe2
(83,929 posts)lapucelle
(18,351 posts)Some of them have prolific fund-raising machinery already in place that they have used in Democratic gubernatorial primary races in other parts of the country. For some reason. there is little interest in rocking the political power balance in their home state.
It would be wonderful to see them putting that money-generating power into electing a Democratic governor in Vermont. As they say, charity begins at home.
Ms. Toad
(34,101 posts)Voltaire2
(13,194 posts)of how totally fucked up our prison industrial complex is.
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)Fuckin' 'ell.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,448 posts)released, but the state is considering only those incarcerated people who are older than 65. That's a shitty move.
lapucelle
(18,351 posts)I get the sense they are not taking it as seriously as we are taking it here, said Valerio, whose department includes the states Prisoners Rights Office.
Weve had reports from inmates that we can contact over the phone that indicated sort of a laissez-faire approach to wearing masks, Valerio added. When we call them on it, they assure us they are doing the right thing.
https://vtdigger.org/2020/07/30/six-inmates-test-positive-for-covid-19-upon-returning-to-vermont-from-mississippi/
You are absolutely right about releasing the hundreds who have served their minimums.
MineralMan
(146,333 posts)to the hellholes that are Mississippi private prisons? I'll wait here for his response.
Abolish For-Profit Prisons by Bernie Sanders
https://link.medium.com/jyTt1XCSF8
Not just for Vermont, for all of us.
sheshe2
(83,929 posts)Charity, so to speak, starts at home. Senator Sanders has a powerful voice and could make a difference in his own state . He has never attempted to do so. Action speaks louder than words.
Voltaire2
(13,194 posts)for everyone.
But whatever.
George II
(67,782 posts)....for any Democratic candidate for Governor?
The key to resolving this horrible state of affairs in Mississippi is electing a Democratic Governor.
lapucelle
(18,351 posts)She was the first transgender candidate ever for governor and had an excellent progressive platform.
Aside from a pro-forma endorsement and a few appearances at GOTV rallies with all the VT candidates (BS was also running for reelection), there was nothing.
George II
(67,782 posts)...as far as I know he didn't send out a single fundraising email for her.
lapucelle
(18,351 posts)Hallquist said the anti-transgender policies of the Trump administration, including the attempt to ban trans people from serving in the military and the reversal of Obama-era protections for trans people in gender-segregated facilities, were factors in her decision to run for office.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-candidate-governor-wins-vermont-primary-n900781
George II
(67,782 posts)lapucelle
(18,351 posts)when Hallquist was running.
It didn't seem to matter then any more than it seems to matter now.
MineralMan
(146,333 posts)to the hellholes that are Mississippi private prisons? I'll wait here for his response.
TexasTowelie
(112,453 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)MineralMan
(146,333 posts)He might say that he's not involved in decisions by the State of Vermont, but, since this involves interstate transport of convicted felons, it sort of falls into his sphere of influence, I'd think.
I expect that we will hear nothing from Senator Sanders on the subject. Nothing at all.
George II
(67,782 posts)lapucelle
(18,351 posts)4½ hours later...
betsuni
(25,645 posts)lapucelle
(18,351 posts)sheshe2
(83,929 posts)It does not need to be under his jurisdiction to speak out about the wrongs happening against Vermont's own citizens. He speaks out about the prisons for profit injustices all the time, yet not about his own state shipping them to Mississippi.
SMDH
lapucelle
(18,351 posts)... and he was very vocal about this issue during the primaries.
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/09/720751326/debate-over-voting-rights-for-prisoners-divides-2020-candidates
https://bit.ly/39UiYlg
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/bernie-sanders-wants-incarcerated-people-vote-here-s-why-he-ncna993476
Because the right to vote is governed by the state law where the prisoner is actually confined. Vermont prisoners who are farmed off to for-profit prisons in other states lose the right to vote that they would be able to exercise if they were incarcerated in their home state.
Suddenly none of this seems to matter.
sheshe2
(83,929 posts)Shipped off to a for profit prison will not get to vote. If it were me I would be fighting for my own.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)JI7
(89,276 posts)when the democratic governor in the state tried to pass it .
sheshe2
(83,929 posts)None that I can post here.
JI7
(89,276 posts)meanwhile his supporters are attacking some of the women Biden is considering for vp.
sl8
(13,901 posts)I didn't see it referenced in the link you provided.
From https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5975672-Vermont-Department-of-Corrections-internal.html
I can't cut and paste from the document, but out of state inmates are addressed on page 2. Basically, it states that they have the same voting rights as inmates housed in Vermont prisons.