Vermont inmates released to spread out population


To reduce incarcerated people’s exposure to COVID-19 behind bars before anyone had even fallen ill, Vermont officials all but stopped new admissions to state prisons and released hundreds from custody in February and March. Lowering the population by more than 200, from its late December benchmark to late March, was designed to make the prisons less crowded and to avoid introducing people to a potential virus hot spot if at all possible. The measures required coordination among prison officials, courts, prosecutors, and halfway houses.

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