Former DOC And AHS Chief Blasts Scott’s Private Prison Proposal

Seven Days reports today that former DOC Commissioner and AHS Secretary Con Hogan returned to the State House recently to blast the Scott Administration’s ill-adivsed proposal to allow CoreCivic to set up shop in Vermont.

From Seven Days Fair Game Column: 

"Hogan’s testimony was a thorough, point-by-point takedown of the plan. Vermont’s corrections system works because it’s spread around the state, he said, while a ‘campus’ would be isolated from community. Prisons ‘are schools of crime; large facilities are even better schools of crime.’ Large projects are prone to cost overruns. Putting mental health patients in a prison complex is a bad idea. Building beds for federal detainees, simply to harvest revenue, is also a bad idea. Demographic trends indicate a likely decline in inmate populations. Reducing the number of inmates "should be our first priority, not building more beds." And "private prison corporations cannot be trusted." 

Well said Mr. Hogan. Thanks

Seven Days reports today that former DOC Commissioner and AHS Secretary Con Hogan returned to the State House recently to blast the Scott Administration’s ill-adivsed proposal to allow CoreCivic to set up shop in Vermont.

From Seven Days Fair Game Column:

"Hogan’s testimony was a thorough, point-by-point takedown of the plan. Vermont’s corrections system works because it’s spread around the state, he said, while a ‘campus’ would be isolated from community. Prisons ‘are schools of crime; large facilities are even better schools of crime.’ Large projects are prone to cost overruns. Putting mental health patients in a prison complex is a bad idea. Building beds for federal detainees, simply to harvest revenue, is also a bad idea. Demographic trends indicate a likely decline in inmate populations. Reducing the number of inmates "should be our first priority, not building more beds." And "private prison corporations cannot be trusted."

Well said Mr. Hogan. Thanks!