Vermont attorney general, Charlotte rep hold town meeting

On Tuesday evening this week Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark spoke at the Charlotte town office at the invitation of Charlotte’s state representative, Chea Waters Evans. Those in attendance included about 40 Charlotters in the room and another 18 on Zoom.

Clark spoke about her office’s efforts to counteract what she called a deluge of unlawful and egregious executive orders of the Trump administration. Her message was that Trump is in the process of consolidating power, and that he does not respect laws or the Constitution.

Vermont has joined 23 other attorneys general in filing lawsuits against executive orders, starting with Trump’s attempt to overturn the 14th Amendment guaranteeing birthright citizenship. These lawsuits are working their way through the federal court system. Federal judges, both Democrat and Republican appointees, have been ruling against Trump at every step in the process so far. “Every time we’ve won, he’s complied – eventually”, she said. She has two members of her staff working on the lawsuits at this time.

Regarding diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI policies, she has issued guidance on the Attorney General Office website that argues that DEI is completely constitutional, and that Trump’s policies on DEI are not (https://tinyurl.com/3nps9f5t). Clark has faith in our judicial system, noting that Chief Justice John Roberts stated that Supreme Court rulings “will be followed.”

Clark said that she relishes the opportunity to get out and talk to Vermonters. The feedback her office has gotten is incredibly uplifting and motivating, and the notes and emails have filled up two bulleting boards on display in the front office. On a question regarding what citizens can do, she said, “Keep up the action: demonstrations, letters and op-eds to newspapers are all forms of speech, and politicians pay attention.”

Representative Evans also spoke about the work of the legislature at this unstable time. The legislative process seems slow, she said, because it takes a lot of talk and deliberation. In the meantime, Trump is acting with speed outside the legislative process. She thinks the state’s legislative response to his edicts will be formed over the summer when a lot of preparation takes place for the next session in January.