People Not Prisons is a coalition made up of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, women, our families from the most incarcerated neighborhoods in New England, and allies from across the country. We are united in our opposition to the construction of any new jails or prisons. We reject any increase in spending on incarceration.
We are organizing to implement bold decarceration policies at every level — including the Department of Correction and the Sheriff’s Departments — and to shift public resources into the communities that have been most harmed and disenfranchised.
We are also calling on Governor Phil Scott to grant clemency and release as many women as possible.
Vermont has one of the lowest incarceration rates for women in the country. Yet despite this, the state spends significantly more on women's incarceration than states with much higher incarceration rates.
Our numbers are so low that, with the right policies and targeted investments in what women and families truly need, Vermont can become the first state to end the incarceration of women and girls entirely.