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A view out a window in the visiting room at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

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The Vermont Department of Corrections has suspended inmate visits at its prisons and jails in response to the global coronavirus outbreak, while the Vermont Supreme Court is temporarily postponing certain jury trials.

The Vermont Supreme Court, which oversees the state’s court system, issued the administrative directive Friday.



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“With the emerging threat to public health, many Vermonters seek to practice, to the extent they can, ‘social distancing,’ as recommended by public health officials,” the directive read. “For that reason, compulsory jury service is particularly burdensome to Vermonters, especially those with heightened vulnerability to the virus.”



For those reasons, the directive stated, the court is ordering that the clerk and superior court judge in each county postpone until at least April 15 any jury trial for which a jury has not been drawn.



Exempted from the ordered are:



-- Cases where a defendant is being held without bail;

-- Cases in which a defendant is being held in custody pending trial;

-- and any “other case, in which, in the discretion of the superior court judge, justice requires.”



In those cases exempted from the order, superior court justices will retain the discretion to postpone the jury trials, taking several factors into consideration, the directive stated.



Those factors include the length of the trial, the availability of jurors, and “to what extent COVID-19 positive or presumed-positive patients have been identified within the community from which jurors will be drawn.”

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Some prison advocates have called on the corrections department to release inmates who have reached their minimum prison terms and remain jailed for either lack of approved housing or because they have not completed certain programming.

Interim Corrections Commissioner James Baker said he is aware of that recommendation from advocates.

“I instructed the superintendents yesterday to reach out and touch base with all the advocacy communities,” Baker said. “We've heard that.”

However, he said, no decisions on that matter have yet been made.

“We understand that's what their position is, it’s not lost on us,” Baker said. “This is a conversation that has to take place that hasn’t taken place yet.”

Tom Dalton, executive director of Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, is among the prisoner advocates calling on the corrections department to evaluate inmates to determine if they can be released.

He referred to prisons as a high-risk setting for the spread of illnesses, with people often held in close quarters and sharing bathroom and shower facilities. He said that all measures should be taken to permit those who can be released to be allowed into the community, especially during this time.

This week, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. Also, Vermont health officials announced the state second case of a second person testing for the coronavirus. That person, a Chittenden County man in his 70s, is hospitalized at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

Dalton, in calling for the release of certain prisoners, particularly cited those inmates who served their minimum prison terms and remain incarcerated either due to a lack of approved housing or still must complete programming.

He said in some cases the approval process for inmate housing is too strict, or is quite time-consuming, and in many cases programming options for inmates are also available in community based settings.

“I'm hearing the anxiety in the voices of people who are currently incarcerated,” he said, adding they are concerned about their well-being and a desire to take precautions to protect themselves.

In addition, he said, they are also concerned about caring for family members, from parents to children, on the outside. “They feel trapped,” he said of inmates he has heard from.

Baker responded that the department is doing its best to ensure the safety of the inmates.

He said that the suspension of visits will remain in effect for the next two weeks. Throughout that time, he said, the department will be constantly reviewing conditions to determine if the suspension should be lifted or extended.

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The commissioner said while the in-person visits will be suspended for two weeks, inmates will be permitted contact with friends and families through video links expected to start Saturday, provided at specific stations inside the housing units.

Jim Baker, interim corrections commissioner. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

The vendor that provides that video service during the time of suspended in-person visits will permit an inmate one free video call a week, of up to 25 minutes. Currently, inmates are permitted one 90-minute in-person visit a week.

“Families will still be able to visit with their loved ones, but we're not going to be allowing them inside the facility,” Baker said. “The goal is to mitigate any possible entry of the virus into our facilities.”

If an inmate is seeking additional video visits other than the free one each week that inmate would need to pay the $6.75 rate for a video call of up to 25 minutes.

Timothy Burgess, a former inmate in Vermont who advocates on behalf of prisoners, said Friday he understands the corrections department’s need to limit access to the facilities. However, Burgess said, he had hoped that inmates would have greater access to video conferencing with family and friends with no charge.

He said inmates should be permitted at least two free video calls a week, especially given the stressful times. “It’s really important that we allow more visits,” he said.

Matthew Valerio, Vermont’s defender general whose department includes the prisoner’s rights office, said he had recently spoken to Baker about steps being taken by the corrections department.

“So far, we haven’t had any big, major uprisings from the inmate population or the like,” Valerio siad of the reaction to the actions being implemented by the state corrections department.

“I know that in the relatively short amount of time that this has become an issue DOC is making its best effort to keep an eye on our clients needs and we’re working to make sure DOC follows through,” he said.

Baker said he has heard from family members of inmates expressing concerns about the suspension of in-person visits.

“We're explaining to them that this is in the best interest of their loved one,” he said. “If we get a virus inside a facility that's going to be very serious, very, very serious.”

In-person visits aren’t the only things being curtailed.

“We've also significantly reduced volunteers and other folks that may come into the facilities for the sole purposes again of mitigation,” Baker said.

In addition, at probation and parole offices around the state, the commissioner said, inmate in-person contact with staff is also being cut back.

“We're talking about limiting the number of times that people come into our offices,” he said. “We're doing supervision a little smarter, either by phone or from a distance. If we have to bring somebody in the office, we require them to do things like washing their hands, sanitizing their hands.”

Baker also spoke of multiple calls a day with department leaders to ensure management has the latest up-to-date information.

“We have supplies stretching out up to 30 days for food, water, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and medication, the everyday medication we provide inmates,” he said.

“We've created a direct supply line for our facility,” he added. “We don't have to go through middle people to get the supplies that we need to keep the facilities clean. And we've stepped up the cleaning of the facilities.”

He did say that there had been some shortage of personal protection items, such as face masks and gloves that have since been resolved. “It’s not that they don’t have it, it’s just that we were running low,” he said. “We’re going to remedy that right now.”

The Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington on Sunday, March 24, 2019. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

He also said that testing of an inmate showing symptoms of the virus would be done in conjunction with the Vermont Department of Health and its protocols.

“We have zero reports of people presenting symptoms that would mimic what the symptoms are of the coronavirus as of 4 p.m. yesterday,” Baker said around noon Friday.

Vermont has 1,652 prisoners, including about 250 serving their sentencing in an out-of-state facility in Mississippi, operated by CoreCivic, the country’s largest private prison contractor.

“We actually have two staff that went to Mississippi,” Baker said, “We've asked that Mississippi make sure that they're mimicking what we're doing and I have not heard anything otherwise.”

Asked about staffing, Baker said there have recent instances of employees calling out sick, but mostly for only for a day or two.

“We are encouraging our staff, just like every employer is, that if they are displaying signs of a cold or anything else, we want them to stay home,” Baker said. “We're starting to develop a plan to staff the facilities, but as we stand right now, our workforce is pretty solid.”



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