Justice Agenda
Justice Agenda
The struggle for Human Rights, Equal Protection, Accountable and Constitutional Justice, Reparations and Economic Justice are more important now than at any time in this nation’s history. Today the civil liberties of women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and Black, Indigenous and other People of Color are under unprecedented (but not unpredictable) attack. Polarization has bred grievance and fearmongering. Hate and anger have become the order of the day. There is a palpable sense that we as a nation are turning our backs on the aspirational principle that is the heart of this republic – justice.
We must keep our eyes towards justice and continue to do justice in Vermont. Dr King said that Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We cannot allow justice to be threatened in Vermont. Now is the time for us to call upon our better angels to provide justice to those who we know are most at-risk. We must continue the work in transforming institutions to better enable them to serve and support those who are most vulnerable. We must invest in the creation of new community-based programs and services within our underserved communities.
The Justice Agenda supports: a 800K+ increase in general fund appropriations for the Human Rights Commission; passage of a the Equal Protection constitutional amendment; community health and wellness programming and services in Black and Brown and marginalized communities; statewide constitutional and accountable policing; data collection across the justice system; creation of the Office of Health Equity and empowerment the Health Equity Advisory Commission; Expansion of the powers and independence of the Office of Racial Equity; creation of a Reparations Task Force, and an economic justice Act.
We cannot explain away or conveniently forget what we have learned about systemic racism (and other forms of oppression) since we started the work. Legislators made a commitment to do something about it in the 2021 Joint Legislative Resolution R-113. Vermont is the safest and healthiest place to live in the United States. But not for everyone. We call upon the legislature to provide justice by ensuring the protection and support of those most vulnerable. This is the only way to ensure that Vermont is healthy and safe for all.