Smart Justice Presentation @ Rokeby Museum

The U.S. represents just 4% of the world's population, yet we lock up nearly 25% of the world's prisoners. Nationwide, Black and Latinx communities are over-represented in the system and Vermont is no different.  In Vermont, our incarceration rate has followed national trends, tripling since the 1980s and reinforced systems of racial oppression by locking up African American men at a higher rate than any other state.

ACLU Vermont is part of the Campaign for Smart Justice – a national initiative that seeks to cut the number of people in prison by half though a number of innovative and necessary reforms that reduce reliance on incarceration, create accountability for our elected officials and promote alternatives that can help make our communities safer.  Come learn more about the solutions to the problem of mass incarceration, and how all of us can be involved in working toward change.  This presentation will also include a screening of three short films that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, telling the first-hand stories of three people who have been incarcerated: Lavette Mayes, Jason Hernandez and Johnny Perez.