The Legislature is trying to reduce the prison population. But home confinement just isn’t working, lawmakers heard this week.

Thanks to Covid, prisoners are no longer called out to pick up trash dumped on the side of the road. Unless a Good Samaritan or a state employee does the job, it’s not only an eyesore, it’s a threat to wildlife.

The ‘good time’ rule accords with the push to save money, reduce pandemic transmission pressures, and decarcerate Vermont inmates. But what do victims’ families think? The State has a program for that, too.

Inmate Kenneth Johnson died in custody at a state prison in Newport after repeatedly claiming he couldn’t breathe. 

Should people arrested for committing violent crimes be sent to jail? Sarah George, Chittenden County State’s Attorney, doesn’t think so. Most violent perpetrators need mental health services instead, she said Friday, Nov. 13 on WVMT’s Morning Drive.

Just a week ago, the Vermont Department of Corrections was celebrating a 100% virus free testing of more than 2000 inmates. Now, after one guard tested positive, the St. Johnsbury prison has been locked down and all incoming prisoners are being sent elsewhere.

An “outsourcing” prison in the deep South is exposing Vermont inmates to Covid-19 to a degree unacceptable in Vermont facilities. But what’s to be done - set them free? Build a new prison in Vermont?

In what’s shaping up to be a big black eye for the Scott administration, almost 150 inmates kept out-of-state have contracted the Covid-19 virus. Is the alternative to build more Vermont prisons?

The Department of Corrections failed to conduct an internal review of the incident leading to the death of a man in prison in Newport.

A policy adopted by the Vermont Department of Corrections is meant to ensure all inmates and staff are treated equally in hiring, access to programs, and supervision.