{"id":1605,"date":"2024-04-18T08:04:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T12:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/news\/press_release\/aclu-vermont-report-card-gives-governor-scott-failing-grade\/"},"modified":"2024-04-18T08:04:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T12:04:11","slug":"aclu-vermont-report-card-gives-governor-scott-failing-grade","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/press-releases\/aclu-vermont-report-card-gives-governor-scott-failing-grade\/","title":{"rendered":"ACLU Vermont Report Card Gives Governor Scott a Failing Grade"},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-1605","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"New ad campaign will raise public awareness about the governor\u2019s record on civil liberties from 2023-2024.\r\n\r\n\n","date_and_time":"2024-04-18 08:00:00","featured_image":null,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE \n\nApril 18, 2024 \n\nContact: Stephanie Gomory, Communications Director <br>sgomory@acluvt.org, 802-223-6304 x111 \n\nMontpelier, Vt. \u2013 The ACLU of Vermont today published its <a href=\"\/news\/civil-liberties-report-card-2023-24\">Civil Liberties Report Card<\/a>, a pass\/fail assessment of Governor Phil Scott\u2019s record on civil rights and civil liberties during his most recent term, 2023\u20132024. The state\u2019s premier civil liberties organization gives the governor a failing grade across several categories, including education, drug policy, criminal justice, police accountability, homelessness, and economic justice. \n\nACLU Vermont Executive Director James Lyall: \u201cAs a nonpartisan government accountability organization, the ACLU has in the past applauded Governor Scott\u2019s actions when they advanced Vermonters\u2019 civil liberties. Unfortunately, the governor\u2019s record on civil rights and civil liberties during the 2023-24 biennium is profoundly disappointing. The ACLU of Vermont and our supporters are increasingly troubled by the governor\u2019s public policy choices regarding Vermonters\u2019 rights and well-being, and we urge him to join us in advancing a more positive vision for the state and its people.\u201d \n\nAmong the civil liberties issues highlighted in the ACLU report card for which Governor Scott received a failing grade: \n\n<ul><li><strong>Homelessness.<\/strong> In 2023, amid a historic housing crisis, the governor sought to forcibly un-shelter hundreds of Vermonters \u2014 children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. This year, his administration has displaced scores of people while enacting cruel and arbitrary barriers to undermine the legislature\u2019s emergency housing program and prevent people with disabilities and other vulnerable Vermonters from accessing shelter. <br> <\/li><li><strong>Education Equity<\/strong>. In the wake of the Supreme Court\u2019s disastrous ruling in\u202fCarson v. Makin\u202f(2022), requiring that states that provide funding to private schools can no longer exclude religious schools from receiving public funds, the governor has offered no plan to limit the flow of public dollars to private schools that can undermine the common benefit of a public education for all of Vermont's children. <br> <\/li><li><strong>Drug Policy &amp; Criminal Justice.<\/strong> While the number of people who have died of drug overdoses has increased dramatically during Scott\u2019s term, he has consistently opposed harm reduction strategies that would save lives and improve community health and safety, while stoking fears about public safety in one of the safest states in the country.  <br><br>The governor has doubled down on the failed strategies of the past by supporting harsher criminal penalties for drug-related offenses and undermining historic \u201craise the age\u201d reform passed by the legislature in 2018. <br> <\/li><li><strong>Racial Justice &amp; Police Accountability.<\/strong> The governor has taken no steps to address persistent racial profiling and racial disparities in the criminal legal system, which remain among the worst in the nation. His public safety \u201cplan\u201d announced in 2023 makes no mention of racial justice or police accountability. With the legislature unwilling or unable to advance police reform given the inevitability of a veto, the governor bears significant responsibility for Vermont\u2019s lack of progress on racial justice and police accountability. <br> <\/li><li><strong>Economic Justice.<\/strong> In an era of historic wealth inequality, when our communities need new resources, the governor refuses to ask the wealthiest Vermonters to pay their fair share. Meanwhile, he has made misleading statements about widely popular proposed taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and claimed, without evidence or analysis, that affluent residents will flee the state.  <br><br>The governor even opposes a modest tax on corporations that would help to staff Vermont\u2019s judiciary\u2014a position squarely at odds with his stated interest in promoting public safety, and one that threatens to undermine a pillar of democratic government, our court system. <\/li><\/ul>\n\nACLU Vermont Communications Director Stephanie Gomory: \u201cThe ACLU values Vermont\u2019s traditions of civil discourse and cooperation, particularly in this polarizing era, but they should not preclude any governor from facing scrutiny and accountability. We hope this assessment will provide the public with a fuller accounting of Governor Scott\u2019s actions and policy choices.\u201d \n\nThe report card is available on the <a href=\"\/news\/civil-liberties-report-card-2023-24\">ACLU of Vermont website<\/a> and will be publicized online through emails to ACLU members, on social media, and through paid advertising, starting today. \n\n### "}}],"use_default_media_contact":true,"name":"","email":"","phone":"","address":{"address_1":"","address_2":"","city":"","state":"","zip_code":"","country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","spokesperson":null,"related_content":[],"issues":[1369,1382,1363,1370,1373,1383],"toggle-pdf":true,"documents":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ACLU Vermont Report Card Gives Governor Scott a Failing Grade - ACLU of Vermont<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/press-releases\/aclu-vermont-report-card-gives-governor-scott-failing-grade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ACLU Vermont Report Card Gives Governor Scott a Failing Grade - 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