Please consider contacting Essex town officials to say NO to new women's prison construction!

We're urging everyone to email the Essex Planning Commission members to oppose investing more money in incarceration. The Vermont Department of Corrections needs a zoning change approved in the town of Essex to be able to build a new women's prison. Without the approval of the commission, building the proposed new prison will not be possible in Essex. Their decision is important to Vermonters across the state.

If the Department of Corrections' zoning change request is rejected then they must try to find somewhere else to build and we are one step closer to stopping the new prison project!

Using the template below you can email the commission and let them know you oppose the new prison. Please feel free to customize your email with your perspective on why we should not be building new prisons.

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Dear Members of the Planning Commission,

I am writing to urge you to reject the Department of Corrections' request for a zoning change to allow for the building of a new prison.

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Dear Essex Planning Commission,

I am writing in opposition to the proposal for a new women’s prison in Essex. The State of Vermont has been in this moment before. Chittenden Regional Correction Facility (CRCF)—similarly to other carceral projects—was proposed as a progressive prison that would meet the needs of Vermonters, with promises falling through once it opened or shortly thereafter.

When the State built and opened the current women’s prison, CRCF, it was proposed as a progressive men’s prison, a “Community Corrections” prototype. The Burlington Free Press headline stated, “New Correctional Center Planned as ‘Most Progressive’ in US.” Now condemned by people and entities across the board, CRCF was designed and created with the same progressive vision the Department of Corrections (DOC) and others use to push the new $100 million women’s prison. Why would we trust this will be any different?

Similarly, when the State of Vermont opened what is now the men’s prison in St. Albans, it was opened as a youth center with no locked doors. It was not long before it became one of the State’s men’s prisons.

While the proposal for the new prison paints a cheerful picture for some, it’s impossible to trust the Department of Corrections to carry out well-intentioned reforms, considering a litany of recent failures and scandals with the grievance system, privatized healthcare, unnecessary deaths, unsatisfactory oversight, and PRIN program. Where will the continuous stream of funds for the robust promised services come from, when there is not sufficient money available now even for basic services in prison?

Let’s not become entrapped by these false promises. Instead, with the proposed $97 million for the new prison construction and $95,000 per year we spent to incarcerate one person, Vermont could provide community-based housing, recovery services, and tailored services that address the needs of the 120 women and people currently held at the prison at a much lower cost. Providing housing with wraparound services is nearly one-fifth the cost of incarcerating a woman. The cost of recovery houses, on average, is 75% lower than the cost of incarcerating a woman. What is the best use of our limited taxpayer dollars?

For these reasons, I strongly oppose the plans for a new prison. Please consider the future reality of the promises for the new prison falling flat once it opens in Essex.

Sincerely, [Your information here]