Tag: vermont

Supreme Court rejects Meta’s appeal in Vermont social media addiction case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push to avoid a lawsuit alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users, a decision that comes as social media companies increasingly face legal scrutiny.

Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. appealed after Vermont’s highest court allowed a suit filed by its attorney general in 2023 to move forward. The company is facing similar lawsuits from states across the country, accusing it of knowingly designing addictive features.

Meta had argued that it can’t be sued in Vermont court because neither the company nor the app design has specific ties to the state. Vermont countered that the sites’ large number of teen users gives its courts jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. The procedural decision comes after court losses for Meta and YouTube in social media addiction lawsuits in California and New Mexico.

Vermont’s lawsuit was filed after an investigation by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in several states. Newspaper reports based on Meta’s own research also found that the company knew about the harms Instagram can cause teenagers — especially teen girls — when it comes to mental health and body image issues. One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.

Almost all teens ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform, with about a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Meta, for its part, has said that it has already introduced dozens of tools to support teens and their families and suggested it would have worked with the states on standards for youth social media use.

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark applauded the decision, saying it affirms “that companies that choose to do business in Vermont, like Meta, can be held accountable when they harm kids.”

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Vermont Applauded for Banning Parkinson’s-Linked Neurotoxic Herbicide Paraquat

In a move cheered by advocates for public health and the environment, Vermont on Tuesday became the first US state to ban paraquat, a neurotoxic herbicide banned in over 70 countries but protected by the Trump administration despite being linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Democratic Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed H. 739, which bans the sale and use of paraquat, after the legislation was passed by the state Legislature with strong bipartisan support. The ban—which contains a provision allowing for limited use of the chemical on fruit orchards through the end of 2030—is set to take effect on November 1.

As Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) campaigner Liam Sacino recently noted, the US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] acknowledges that “even a small amount” of paraquat “can be fatal, and there is no known antidote.”

“The agency has also decided that due to health risks, it should never be used around home gardens, schools, recreational parks, golf courses, or playgrounds,” Sacino added. “Regardless of these conclusions, the EPA still allows paraquat to be sprayed on farms, posing a potentially increased risk to those who work on the farms and live nearby.”

The EPA paradoxically calls paraquat “an important tool for the control of weeds in many agricultural and non-agricultural settings,” a stance promoted by the chemical industry, some of whose highly toxic products the pesticide-friendly Trump administration has designated as vital to US national security.

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Vermont Christian School Banned from All Competitions for Standing Up for Girls Wins $566K in Damages

A Christian school that was punished for refusing to play against a transathlete has won a settlement from the State of Vermont.

In 2023, The Gateway Pundit reported that Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) withdrew from Vermont’s Division IV basketball tournament due to a biological male being on the opposing team.

MVCS head of school Vicky Fogg explained in a statement it was unfair and unsafe for the high school girls to play against a biological male.

Following the forfeiture, the school was banned from participating in sporting events going forward. In addition, the school was banned from participating in all VPA-sanctioned activities, not only athletics but also extracurricular competitions such as drama and debate, as well as science and math fairs.

In November 2023, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed a lawsuit against Vermont officials on behalf of the school. A district court denied the school’s injunction request that would have allowed it readmission into the VPA for all sports, so ADF appealed the case to the 2nd Circuit and,  in September 2025, the 2nd Circuit ruled in favor of Mid Vermont Christian.

Per ADF:

“The VPA likely violated Mid Vermont’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion because its consideration of Mid Vermont’s case was not neutral,” the ruling reads.

The court went on to explain: “[the VPA] acted with hostility toward Mid Vermont’s religious beliefs. The VPA’s Executive Director publicly castigated Mid Vermont—and religious schools generally—while the VPA rushed to judgment on whether and how to discipline the school. In upholding the expulsion, the VPA doubled down on that hostility by challenging the legitimacy of the school’s religious beliefs.

And … the punishment imposed was unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular. Those facts strongly support the inference that Mid Vermont’s religious objection ‘was not considered with the neutrality that the Free Exercise Clause requires.’

Now, Fox News reports that State education agencies in Vermont have settled with the school for over $566,000.

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14-Year-Old Kid Runs for Governor of Vermont and Will Appear on the General Election Ballot

A 14-year-old kid has now qualified to appear on the general election ballot for Governor of Vermont this November.

Dean Roy, a freshman at Stowe High School who also works part-time at his parents’ pizza shop and served as a legislative page at the Vermont Statehouse last year, has become the first teenager under 18 to qualify for the state’s general election ballot for governor.

He did it by founding his own third-party outfit called the Freedom and Unity Party.

“I know it sounds crazy, a 14-year-old running for governor,” Roy said in a video posted to Instagram. “But honestly, look at the people in charge right now. They’ve been doing this forever and things still aren’t working.”

During an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend this morning, Roy laid out a no-nonsense platform.

“Yeah, so the platform that I’m running on mainly focuses on housing, energy, healthcare, and education.

For housing, it mainly revolves around deregulating with regard to Act 250 and increasing taxes on short-term rentals, which are a very prominent problem in Vermont.

For energy, it’s nuclear power. If we were to reopen a nuclear power plant, we would secure energy independence.

And for education and healthcare, it’s auditing those systems, which are very inefficient in Vermont, and making sure that we get them to be efficient once again—and that they’re at a standard where Vermonters can both afford them and lower their tax bill.”

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Vermont Senate Committee Approves Bill to Cut Marijuana Tax, Double Purchase Limits and Allow Events and Deliveries

A Vermont Senate committee has unanimously approved a bill that would make changes to the state’s marijuana laws, including reducing the excise tax, expanding possession and purchase limits, and allowing cannabis events and deliveries.

The Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs voted 5 to 0 to send Senate Bill 278 to the full Senate after adopting a revised version of the proposal. The bill was originally filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as a measure to expand marijuana sales and make Vermont’s regulated market more competitive.

Under the amended version, the bill would cut Vermont’s marijuana excise tax from 14% to 10%. It would also double the retail transaction and personal possession limits, allowing adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to two ounces of marijuana or its equivalent in a single sale. It would also increase the legal possession limit for cannabis concentrates from 5 grams to 10 grams.

Another notable change in the amended bill is a higher THC cap for cannabis products. The proposal would increase the limit for a single package from 100 milligrams to 200 milligrams of THC.

The measure would also create new event and delivery permits, though in a more limited way than the original version may have suggested (the committee amended the bill before giving it approval). The Cannabis Control Board would be allowed to issue up to 10 public event permits and 10 private event permits per year, with each permit valid for a single event lasting no more than 24 hours. The bill would also authorize up to 15 delivery permits annually for tier 1 cultivators and tier 1 manufacturers. Both the event and delivery permit sections would be repealed on July 1, 2028, making them temporary pilot-style programs unless lawmakers act again.

The amended bill would also prevent municipalities from using ordinances or bylaws to completely prohibit cannabis establishments, although it does not appear to include the earlier concept of requiring local votes in municipalities that have not yet considered whether to allow retailers.

If approved by the full Senate and later enacted into law, most of the bill’s provisions would take effect July 1, 2026.

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GENIUS: Vermont Spent Millions on Electric Buses That Turned Out to be ‘Unreliable’ in Cold Weather

Behold the genius of liberalism.

Like so many blue states, Vermont decided to ‘go green’ and spent millions on electric buses. There’s just one little problem. It turns out that they’re not reliable in cold weather.

It’s a good thing they never get cold weather in Vermont, right? Except for maybe just six months out of the year, of course.

The Vermont Daily Chronicle reports:

Vermont EV buses prove unreliable for transportation this winter

Electric buses are proving unreliable this winter for Vermont’s Green Mountain Transit, as it needs to be over 41 degrees for the buses to charge, but due to a battery recall the buses are a fire hazard and can’t be charged in a garage.

Spokesman for energy workers advocacy group Power the Future Larry Behrens told the Center Square: “Taxpayers were sold an $8 million ‘solution’ that can’t operate in cold weather when the home for these buses is in New England.”

“We’re beyond the point where this looks like incompetence and starts to smell like fraud,” Behrens said.

“When government rushes money out the door to satisfy green mandates, basic questions about performance, safety, and value for taxpayers are always pushed aside,” Behrens said. “Americans deserve to know who approved this purchase and why the red flags were ignored.”

General manager at Green Mountain Transit (GMT) Clayton Clark told The Center Square that “the federal government provides public transit agencies with new buses through a competitive grant application process, and success is not a given.”

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Bill to Establish State UFO Panel Introduced in Vermont Legislature

A Vermont lawmaker has introduced a bill to establish a panel to investigate UFOs that appear in the skies over the Green Mountain State. According to a local media report, the envisioned Vermont Airspace Safety and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force would function in a fashion similar to the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Specifically, the panel would “evaluate reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena, assess airspace and public safety risks, coordinate with academic institutions and federal agencies, and develop recommendations to improve incident reporting, response, and analysis.”

The ten-person group would consist of representatives from the Vermont state government, law enforcement agencies, the aviation industry, and experts in aerospace and radar systems. Additionally, the group would receive technical assistance from the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, an independent UFO research group boasting an array of scientists and professionals with an active interest in the phenomenon. Remarkably, the bill defines “unidentified anomalous phenomena” as unknown drones or conventional aircraft as well as objects that display “performance characteristics not consistent with currently understood technologies,” such as “instantaneous acceleration” and “hypersonic velocity.”

The proposal for the panel was introduced to the Vermont House of Representatives on Tuesday by Rep. Troy Headrick. The lawmaker offered no opinion on the envisioned UFO group nor an endorsement of the idea itself, indicating that his role was simply to advance an issue of interest to a constituent, Maggie Lenz, who came up with the concept after the mystery drone wave of late 2024. The bill will next move to the House Government Operations Committee, where members will debate its merits and decide if it should advance further towards becoming law. To that end, one would be wise to temper their expectations as, last summer, a similar effort to create a state UFO commission in New Hampshire failed to pass.

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Left-Wing Vermont School District Raises Somali Flag Next to American Flag

A woke Vermont school district hoisted a Somali flag on Friday, as Democrats around the country defend Somali migrants amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown and a growing fraud scandal in Minnesota’s Somali community. 

“We are raising the Somali flag this week in honor of our Somali youth and families in Winooski and Vermont,” the Winooski School District posted to Facebook. “On Monday, we will be gathering to celebrate together and to learn more about our civil rights.”

The Winooski School District told OutKick the Somali flag was raised on one of its three flagpoles. The American flag is on the highest mast, in accordance with the United States Flag Code, and the Vermont state flag is on the second mast, the district said. The Somali flag was raised on the third mast, which the district said is “for affinity groups.”

The school district’s website was unavailable as of 2:00 p.m. on Monday. The district instead put up a temporary page saying its website is “currently removed from public view” as the district works to “address and mitigate an unprecedented volume of illegitimate traffic targeting our services.”

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Vermont Christian School Reinstated After Being Banned for Refusing to Compete Against Trans Athlete

A federal appeals court has ruled in a favor of a Christian school in Vermont that was banned by state officials from participating in school competitions for refusing to play against a team with a transgender-identifying athlete. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an order on September 9 overturning a lower court order and granting a preliminary injunction to Mid Vermont Christian School blocking the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) expulsion of the school as litigation goes on, Fox News reported. The panel of judges ruled that the school is “likely to succeed” on its Free Exercise claim because the VPA’s actions show “hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs.” 

In February of 2023, Mid Vermont’s girls basketball team “forfeited a playoff game against Long Trail School” after they found out “a transgender-identifying male student” was on the opposing team. Mid Vermont school officials said at the time that they were concerned about fairness and safety for their female players, according to the report.

A few weeks later, the VPA responded by expelling the Christian school from all state-sponsored sports, as well as non-athletic events such as science fairs and spelling bees.

Alliance Defending Freedom subsequently filed a lawsuit against state officials on behalf to the Christian school and one of its families. The lawsuit alleges that state officials punished the school for exercising its religious liberty, which is protected by the First Amendment.

VPA Executive Director Jay Nichols allegedly accused the school of “blatant discrimination under the guise of religious freedom” just two days after the school forfeited the game, according to court documents. The VPA’s appeals committee also called the school’s safety concerns a “myth” and labeled its religious objection “wrong,” the report states. 

“It is a myth that transgender students endanger others when they participate in high school sports or create unfair competition,” the committee wrote.

Head coach Chris Goodwin, who has held the position for almost a decade and whose daughter is a member of the team, told the outlet that the school’s decision was tough but necessary. 

“It’s clear in Scripture that there is a difference between males and females. So if we decided to play that game, in essence, we’d be agreeing with the state’s belief system that boys can be girls and male athletes can be female athletes,” he said.

Goodwin told the outlet his team had to drive several hours away to neighboring states to compete in a Christian league after the VPA’s decision, which resulted in athletes losing exposure and scholarship opportunities. 

“Athletics in high school and junior high is a really big part of the overall educational experience. So for that to be taken away from the kids was very disappointing, and for them to lose out on opportunities to be recognized in the state as all-state athletes or all-conference athletes and also have the possibility of receiving scholarships is a big deal. And they were denied that opportunity by the state,” he said.

David Cortman, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told the outlet the Second Circuit’s decision should set a precedent and protect other religious schools that face similar dilemmas. 

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Gender ideology mandate in foster care opposed by religious liberty, gay rights, pro-drag groups

Vermont’s refusal to place foster children in families with religious objections to gender ideology compels parents to parrot the government’s preferred messages, establishes the Green Mountain State’s own religion and treats “comparable secular activity” more favorably, while the judge who upheld the gender-affirming mandate relied on dubious research.

Those are a handful of arguments in friend-of-the-court briefs as the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals evaluates whether Vermont violated the First Amendment by stripping foster-care licenses from Christian couples Brian and Katy Wuoti and Michael and Rebecca Gantt.

Social workers gave the couples glowing reviews, but Vermont deemed them “unqualified” to parent “any child (even a relative) of any age (even an infant) and for any length of time (even a few hours)” due to their religious beliefs, harming children who need “loving homes,” the couples’ lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom said.

No federal appeals court has yet determined “whether a state may categorically exclude families from foster care because of their protected speech and religious beliefs,” though the 9th Circuit will “likely” rule on the issue “soon,” ADF’s opening brief says.

The San Francisco-based appeals court heard oral argument nearly a year ago, but has yet to rule, in another ADF case by Oregon widow and mother-of-five Jessica Bates, who is suing the Beaver State to let her adopt foster siblings without requiring her to use their preferred pronouns and even give them “hormone shots” if they desire.

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