85 Vermont inmates in Mississippi prison test positive for Covid-19

[lapucelle]

Early test results have found that 85 Vermont inmates held at a privately run prison in Mississippi are positive for Covid-19, according to the state Department of Corrections.

“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.

snip=================================================================================

[Rachel Feldman, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections] said Vermont inmates in Mississippi who had positive test results had been placed in a separate housing unit from other inmates. Vermont inmates, she said, had been held in two housing units at the prison, and now a third unit is being used to hold those who have tested positive for Covid-19.

“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 doesn’t 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.

snip=================================================================================

“The Scott administration’s stubborn refusal to take a more proactive approach to the threat of Covid-19 in prison settings,” [executive director of the Vermont ACLU James] Lyall said, “reflects the same indifference, the same callous indifference, to lives of people we’ve seen over and over again.”

Valerio, the state’s 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 doesn’t 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]

1. The bigger question should be

why is Vermont sending its prisoners to Mississippi and separating them by such distances that their families cannot visit them?

[Wounded Bear]

2. Happening all over the country...

the Prison Industrial Complex will go global next.

Renting out prison cells has become big business.

[TexasTowelie]

5. Yes, I know that there are private contractors that are in the prison industrial complex.

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]

26. +1000

[lapucelle]

4. Prominent Vermont politicians need to work harder to support and elect a Democrat as governor.

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]

36. My first reaction, as well. n/t

[Voltaire2]

3. Everything about that headline is an example

of how totally fucked up our prison industrial complex is.

[greenjar_01]

6. Sold down the river, literally

Fuckin' 'ell.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. There are hundreds of prisoners in Vermont who have served their minimums and could be

released, but the state is considering only those incarcerated people who are older than 65. That's a shitty move.

These prisoners have been farmed out to covid-factory hellholes

Every prison is a covid factory, and every prison is a hellhole.

[lapucelle]

8. Apparently some hellholes are more hellish than others.

Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio said Thursday that while the in-state facilities seem to have a “pretty good handle” on preventing the spread of Covid-19, he’s not sure that’s the case at the Mississippi prison.

“I get the sense they are not taking it as seriously as we are taking it here,” said Valerio, whose department includes the state’s Prisoners’ Rights Office.

“We’ve 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]

9. What Does Senator Sanders Have to Say about Shipping VT Prisoners

to the hellholes that are Mississippi private prisons? I'll wait here for his response.

[Voltaire2]

30. Ok.

Abolish For-Profit Prisons by Bernie Sanders

https://link.medium.com/jyTt1XCSF8

Not just for Vermont, for all of us.

[sheshe2]

35. That does not address MM's question.

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]

37. It would abolish the for profit prison system

for everyone.

But whatever.

[George II]

10. Has Senator Sanders used his vast grass roots ground game to raise money or campaign....

....for any Democratic candidate for Governor?

The key to resolving this horrible state of affairs in Mississippi is electing a Democratic Governor.

[lapucelle]

12. He didn't in 2018 when Christine Hallquist was running.

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]

13. In 2018 he didn't even endorse Hallquist until five weeks before the election, and...

...as far as I know he didn't send out a single fundraising email for her.

[lapucelle]

15. I don't know why Hallquist did not receive enthusiastic and robust support from the senator.

The most specific parts of Hallquist’s platform follow a now-familiar progressive model: a $15 minimum wage, Medicare for all and free higher education. She is also campaigning on an aggressive expansion of renewable electricity and high-speed broadband access across the state.

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]

17. I know.

[lapucelle]

16. And Governor Scott had already implemented his "ship them out to for-profit prisons" policy in 2018

when Hallquist was running.

It didn't seem to matter then any more than it seems to matter now.

[MineralMan]

11. What Does Senator Sanders Have to Say about Shipping VT Prisoners

to the hellholes that are Mississippi private prisons? I'll wait here for his response.

[TexasTowelie]

18. The Senate is in recess so you should get your answer soon. nt

[NurseJackie]

19. ...

[MineralMan]

20. Oh, probably not.

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]

21. He had a long interview on Ali Velshi's show yesterday morning, didn't mention this at all.

[lapucelle]

22. I see you're still waiting,

4½ hours later...

[betsuni]

14. K&R

[Cha]

23. KR TY

[lapucelle]

24. Mahalo, my friend...

[Cha]

25. ..

[sheshe2]

27. It does not need to be under his jurisdiction...

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]

28. After all, this problem is in his backyard...

... and he was very vocal about this issue during the primaries.

Debate Over Voting Rights For Prisoners Divides 2020 Candidates

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/09/720751326/debate-over-voting-rights-for-prisoners-divides-2020-candidates

Sanders faces heat for saying people should be able to vote from prison

https://bit.ly/39UiYlg

Bernie Sanders wants incarcerated people to vote. Here's why he's right.

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]

29. So Vermont's incarcerated...

Shipped off to a for profit prison will not get to vote. If it were me I would be fighting for my own.

[ehrnst]

31. +1000. (nt)

[JI7]

32. It was just a campaign thing for him. Just like he didn't do anything to support single payer

when the democratic governor in the state tried to pass it .

[sheshe2]

33. I have no words.

None that I can post here.

[JI7]

34. I know what you mean

meanwhile his supporters are attacking some of the women Biden is considering for vp.

[sl8]

38. What's the source that says that Vermont inmates lose voting rights in out of state prisons?

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.