►
Description
From Vemont Interfaith Action:
Democratic Candidates Sarah George and Ted Kenney join leaders of Vermont Interfaith Action (VIA) in a forum to discuss their race to be elected as Chittenden County State's Attorney in 2022. VIA leaders from the Racial Justice: Public Safety Local Organizing Ministry asked questions about how candidates define and are influenced by restorative justice principles; how they plan to engage with law enforcement officers and the public; what priorities they will set for their staff; and how factors such as race, mental health, and substance use disorders will affect their decisions about prosecution.
For more info: viavt.org
7/11/2022
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A
A
The
forum
isn't
this
forum
is
an
opportunity
for
the
democratic
candidate.
Sarah
george
and
ted
kenny
to
address
questions
about
their
perspectives,
priorities
and
plans
regarding
issues
of
justice
and
our
office
of
state's
attorney.
The
state's
attorney
is
the
highest
ranked
prosecutor
in
chittenden
county.
Their
primary
responsibility
is
to
protect
the
rights
of
all
people
in
chittenden,
county
innocents,
victims
and
those
charged
with
a
crime.
B
That
can
try.
My
name
is
eric
card
and
I'm
a
member
of
the
college
street
congregational
church
and
the
public
safety
lom
of
via
vermont
interface.
Interfaith
action
is
a
coalition
of
more
than
70
congregations
and
individual
persons
of
faith
who
work
together
to
affect
systemic
change,
around
social
justice
issues
facing
our
communities
and
our
state.
B
B
We
recognize
that
systemic
racism
is
prevalent
throughout
our
society
and
we
seek
to
dismantle
its
negative
impact
on
policing
and
law
enforcement
by
reimagining
public
safety,
making
every
municipality
in
vermont
and
the
state
as
a
whole,
safe
and
respectful
towards
all
our
goal
in
via
across
all
its
issues
is
to
improve
the
quality
of
life
for
all
vermonters,
bringing
the
values
of
justice
and
compassion
to
the
public
square.
As
our
faith,
traditions,
guidance.
A
C
Hi
good
evening
everybody,
so
this
is
your
chance
to
unmute
yourself
and
to
make
some
noise
and
and
some
and
bring
some
joy
representing
the
community
that
you,
when
you
hear
your
community's
name
called
out
in
the
roll
call.
My
name
is
lucy
samara,
I'm
a
member
first
congregational
church
of
burlington
by
congregation,
and
I'm
also
a
member
of
the
public
safety
local
organizing
group
for
via
so
the
first
congregation
I'm
going
to
call
out
and
make
some
noise.
If
you're
here,
first
congregational
church
of
burlington.
D
E
D
Hi,
my
name
is
bill.
Neil
I'm
a
member
of
the
first
congregational
church,
burlington
and
also
a
leader
with
vermonter
faith
action.
We
structured
this
forum
to
be
as
straightforward
as
possible.
Each
candidate
will
have
one
minute
to
make
an
opening
statement.
Following
that
they'll
each
be
asked
to
answer
questions
by
our
presenters.
D
We
did
send
them
each
a
copy
of
the
questions
ahead
of
time,
so
there
should
be
no
surprises
and
to
give
them
their
best
opportunity
to
provide
thoughtful,
thorough
and
concise
responses.
Each
candidate
will
have
two
minutes
to
answer.
Each
question:
lucy,
whom
you've
already
met,
will
be
our
time
keeper
and
will
remind
each
speaker
when
they're
approaching
time
and
again
when
they
have
reached
it,
you'll
see
her
hold
up
signs
that
say
30
seconds
and
time
as
indicators.
D
D
Questions
in
the
chat
will
go
to
the
administrator
of
the
zoom
call.
If
you
do
have
questions
that
arise,
we
encourage
you
to
write
them
down
and
we
will
provide
ways
to
contact
the
candidates
following
the
call
we
ask
that,
if
possible,
both
of
our
candidates
be
unmuted
for
the
duration,
so
as
to
avoid
any
unexpected
technical
delays
and
also
asks
that,
aside
from
the
person
asking
each
question,
everyone
else,
please
stay
muted.
Throughout
the
event.
D
A
Chopping
up
vegetables,
so
can
people
make
sure
that
they're
muted?
I
can
hear
some
people
thanks.
So
it's
now
time
to
hear
from
our
candidates,
hooray
we'd
like
to
invite
them
each
to
make
brief
opening
remarks.
We
ask
that
these
remarks
be
kept
to
one
minute.
Lucy
will
offer
reminders
of
the
time.
A
F
Ahead
evening,
y'all,
thank
you
so
much
for
having
me
thank
you
for
via
for
putting
this
on.
It's
a
pleasure
to
be
here.
My
name
is
sarah
george.
I
am
the
chittenden
county
state's
attorney.
I
became
a
prosecutor
straight
out
of
law
school
back
in
january
of
2011
in
the
same
office
in
the
chittenden
county
office.
F
In
that
time
I
have
prosecuted
thousands
and
thousands
and
thousands
of
cases.
I
have
figured
out
some
of
what
does
work
and
very
much
of
what
does
not
work
the
ways
that
our
legal
system
is
flawed,
and
so
I've
been
spending
the
last
five
years
as
the
state's
attorney,
given
that
I
have
complete
control
over
the
policies
that
our
office
implements
trying
to
dismantle
some
of
the
system
that
oppresses
people
of
color,
poor
people,
people
with
mental
health
issues
and
mostly
poor
people
in
our
jurisdiction,
happy
to
be
here.
Looking
forward
to
the
conversation.
G
Well,
thank
you
everybody.
For
hosting
this.
I
really
appreciate
it.
My
name
is
ted
kenney.
I
wanted
to
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
myself
in
the
60
seconds
that
I
have
I'm
a
native
of
chittenden
county.
I
was
raised
in
richmond
vermont.
At
the
last
of
eight
kids,
we
had
a
series
of
things
happening
in
my
family
that
inform
how
I
view
things.
I
had
two
oldest
brothers
who
were
paranoid
schizophrenic
and
we
had
alcoholism
in
my
family.
So
my
dealings
with
mental
health
and
some
dysfunction
goes
goes
deep.
G
I
became
a
lawyer
by
working
full-time
and
going
to
law
school
at
night.
I
got
a
public
defender
contract
following
getting
out
of
law
school
and
since
then
I've
tried
to
engage
with
public
service
as
much
as
I
can.
I
was
the
president
of
the
vermont
dismiss
house
board
of
directors,
I'm
on
the
board
of
the
joint
urban
ministry
project
and
I'm
the
vice
chair
of
the
select
board
here
in
williston.
G
A
Thank
you
thank
you,
ted
and
thank
you
both
so
now
it's
time
to
get
into
the
questions
prepared
by
our
racial
justice
and
public
safety
group.
As
a
reminder,
you'll
each
be
asked
the
same
question
by
one
of
our
presenters
and
given
two
minutes
to
answer
we're
going
to
alternate.
Who
goes
first
so
that
you
there
it
will
be
fair
and
lucy
will
remind
you
when
your
time
is
up
all
right.
Go
ahead.
Joey.
F
How
do
I
redefine
it?
I
actually
often
tell
people
that
the
criminal
legal
system
is
saying
that
you're
sorry,
a
person
who
goes
through
the
system
has
to
say
they're.
Sorry,
restorative
justice
is
doing
sorry,
so
it's
actually
taking
steps
to
make
sure
that
you
are
being
held
accountable,
that
you're
taking
responsibility
and
that
you're
doing
things
actual
concrete
things
to
make
sure
that
you
are
helping
to
heal
the
harm
that
you
caused
and
making
sure
that
it
doesn't
happen
again.
So
that's
what
I
that's
how
I
describe
it.
F
It
doesn't
necessarily
play
a
role
in
who
I
prosecute,
but
it
certainly
plays
a
role
in
how
I
prosecute
and
whether
or
not
I
prosecute
if
there
is
a
way
that
somebody
can
do
sorry
in
with
whatever
harm
they
caused
and
the
legal
system
isn't
necessary
to
do
that
and
the
person
harmed
doesn't
want
the
legal
system
involved.
I
always
look
for
a
restorative
process
to
take
its
place.
There's
also
a
lot
of
ways
that
the
restorative
process
can
be
used
along
the
way
parallel
to
prosecution
or
post-prosecution.
F
H
G
My
definition
is,
is
about
the
same.
I
I
view
restorative
justice
as
a
way
to
empower
the
person
who
has
been
harmed
by
having
them
be
in
the
same
place
with
the
person
who
created
the
harm
so
that
they
can
see
each
other
and
that
the
person
who
created
the
harm
in
this
case,
you
know
somebody
who
committed
a
crime,
can
make
amends
and
and
do
that,
which
is
right
by
trying
to
fix
what
can
be
fixed
and
make
up
for
things
that
can't
be
fixed.
G
I
think
if
there
were-
and
I
don't
know
that
this
is
the
right
word,
but
if
there
was
an
algorithm
for
such
decisions,
the
first
the
first
step
would
be
whether
it
is
a
case
that
can
be
dealt
with
purely
through
restorative
justice
processes,
which
would
involve
talking
to
the
victim
the
facts
of
the
case.
The
severity
of
the
of
the
conduct
things
like
that,
the
history
of
the
defendant-
if
it
can
be,
then
it
should
be
brought
through
the
restorative
system
period.
G
If
it
can't,
then
the
next
question
would
be
if
it's
something
in
the
gray
area-
and
you
know
things
don't
fall
on
one
side
or
the
other
in
life
all
the
time.
So
if,
if
a,
if
a
case
is
close
but
but
not
quite
okay
for
pure
restorative
processes,
then
I
think
the
option
next
option
would
be
to
bring
a
prosecution
but
suspend
doing
anything
on
the
prosecution.
While
the
restorative
process
played
out
that
way.
G
If
the
restorative
process
does
not
play
out,
then
there
would
be
a
a
consequence,
and
the
third
is
just
I
think
restorative
concepts
have
to
be
all
the
way
through
every
every
case.
I
think
that
without
without
that,
then
it
just
becomes
about
vengeance,
and
that
that's
not
it's
not
something
I
I
know
a
lot
of
people
are
motivated
by
that.
I
wish
that
were
not
the
case.
E
G
You
know
that
that's
actually
probably
one
of
the
toughest
questions
that
that
you
folks
sent.
I
I
I
think
we
do
a
bad
job
of
of
educating
people
to
the
law
anyway,
so
I
think
it
would
be
it's
it's
not
easy.
One
thing
that
I
have
thought
about
is
having
the
state's
attorney
or
somebody
from
the
office
have
either
annual
or
bi-annual
meetings
with
select
boards
and
city
councils
and
such
within
that
that
would
be
explaining
to
the
representatives
of
the
people
of
that
town
or
city.
G
What's
going
on,
and
part
of
that
would
be
a
restorative
justice
kind
of
primer.
Other
than
that,
I
think
it's
you
know,
certainly
in
dealings
with
the
media,
in
dealings
with
the
press.
That
has
to
be
emphasized
that
the
restorative
principles
are
always
should
always
be
at
play,
except
for
you
know
some
very
serious
cases,
and
then,
basically
just
by
example.
F
Then
I
think
the
most
important
aspect
is
this
idea
that
it's
less
punitive
and
trying
to
highlight
that
it's
actually
far
more
accountability
for
the
person
that
has
caused
the
harm,
and
it
is
much
better
for
victims
of
harm
and
victims
of
crime.
They
are
far
more
likely
to
be
satisfied
with
a
restorative
approach,
so
really
making
sure
that
law
enforcement
understand
that
and
anybody
else
in
the
community
that
will
listen
to
me
talk
about
it.
I
talk
about
it
a
lot
and
it
means
a
lot
to
me
and
I
think
it's
really
important.
B
F
That's
my
entire
job.
I
appreciate
the
question
it's
really
hard
to
answer
because,
like
you
said
not
not
only
some
people
in
our
system
struggle
with
those
things,
I
would
say
that
most
people
in
our
system
struggle
with
those
things.
There
are,
of
course,
some
outliers,
but
for
the
most
part,
people
who
are
committing
crimes
have
some
sort
of
either
substance
use
issue
mental
health
issue,
an
issue
of
poverty
or
a
racial
issue.
F
F
In
care,
instead
of
incarcerated,
if
that
doesn't
happen,
though,
if
we
are
struggling
with
the
services
in
the
community
like
we
certainly
are
now
with
cobin,
we
immediately
try
to
set
those
people
up
with
a
pre-trial
service
order
or
pre-trial
monitor
that
will,
while
their
cases
pending
work
with
those
people
to
connect
them
with
the
services
they
need,
and
then
for
the
racial
justice
issues.
We
are
constantly
looking
at
data,
both
in
chittenden,
county
and
statewide.
B
G
Well,
they
they
have
to
be
taken
into
account
at
the
outset.
There's
no
question
about
that.
As,
as
I've
indicated,
we've
had
mental
health
struggles
in
my
own
family,
it's
not
a
unique
story,
and
it
you
know
a
lot
of
there's
a
lot
of
mental
health
issues
that
are
not
being
addressed
right
now.
The
the
question
always
comes
down
to
whether
or
not
the
mental
health
issue
is
one
that
that
absolves
somebody
from
criminal
liability
versus
whether
it's
something
that
should
be
considered
within
the
process.
I
I
don't.
G
I
would
never
not
consider
mental
health
issues,
it's
it's
just
too
prevalent
out
there.
These
are
cases
usually
where
somebody
does
have
a
a
significant
problem
where
they
are
not
being
there.
You
know
we
just
don't
fund
mental
health
in
the
state
of
vermont,
the
way
that
we
should
at
all-
and
I
I
get
very
angry
about
it-
the
relative
to
racial
issues.
I
you
know
I
have
to
be
kind
of
a
technical
weirdo
about
this.
G
As
a
lawyer,
the
taking
into
account
somebody's
race
on
whether
or
not
you
prosecute
them
is
unconstitutional.
It
would
violate
the
equal
protection
clause
and
it
would
violate
vermont's
constitution
of
the
common
benefits
clause
because
other
because,
if
that
can,
if
that
is
a
factor,
then
it
could
be
a
factor
going
the
other
way,
and
it
would
also
make
people
who
are
not
in
that
group
say
wait
a
minute.
G
Where
is
that
person
getting
a
break
and
the
system
just
can't
operate
that
way,
but
the
the
deeper
issue
there
is
the
one
of
the
systemic
racism
that
is
creating
these
problems
in
the
first
place.
Most
of
these
problems
are
really
more
tied
toward
poverty
and
lack
of
educational
opportunity
and
when
it
comes
to
poverty,
lack
of
educational
opportunity
and
somebody's
individual
story.
G
Well,
it's
it's
an
important
relationship
for
both
it's
probably
more
important,
to
have
a
good
relationship
with
law
enforcement
than
it
is
the
attorney
general's
office
frankly,
but
both
of
them
are
important.
It's
a
question
of
having
the
stakeholders
at
the
table
and
it's
it's
not
just
law
enforcement.
It
would
have
to
be
you
know,
conversations
and
relationships
with
victim
advocates
and
with
racial
justice
advocates
and
people
who
address
poverty.
G
The
state's
attorney
does
not
report
to
law
enforcement
law
enforcement
can't
direct
the
state's
attorney
to
do
something,
and
vice
versa.
The
state's
attorney
can't
direct
law
enforcement
to
do
things.
So
you
know
there's
going
to
be
just
inherently
there's
going
to
be
some
friction
in
that
relationship.
G
F
Thank
you,
so
I
have
been
working
with
both
for
nearly
12
years
now
and
actually
more
than
that
before
I
became
a
deputy
state's
attorney.
I
was
the
domestic
violence
investigator
in
the
office
that
I'm
now
in
so
I
did
a
lot
of
work
with
law
enforcement
directly
then,
and
trying
to
get
updated
statements
and
photographs
and
9-1-1
calls
from
victims
of
domestic
violence.
F
F
When
you
disagree
on
something
they
call
my
cell
phone
or
I
call
theirs-
and
we
talk
about
it-
we
do
not
always
agree
at
the
end
of
it,
but
making
sure
that
that
conversation
still
happens.
The
ag's
office
actually
has
a
lot
less
contact
with
our
office.
Their
criminal
division
does
a
pretty
specific
set
of
crimes
that
our
office
doesn't
really
do.
F
So
there
isn't
a
ton
of
overlap
and
then
the
rest
of
their
divisions
are
civil
law
which
we
might
we
might
try
to
send
somebody
to
like
their
human
rights
division
or
consumer
protection
fraud.
You
know
there's
different
divisions
we
might
send
somebody
to,
but
we
don't
actually
overlap
all
that
much.
That
being
said,
when
we
do
and
we
need
their
help
or
they
need
ours,
it's
obviously
an
important
relationship
to
have
and
to
maintain.
H
F
That's
a
great
question,
so
my
office
is
almost
never
fully
staffed
like
most
public
service
jobs,
especially
through
covid.
We
struggle
with
keeping
staff.
Our
caseloads,
including
mine,
are
often
over
200,
if
not
closer
to
300
each
at
a
time,
and
our
pay
is
pretty
poor
for
attorneys,
with
250
000
in
student
loan
debt.
So
we
have
a
lot
of
attorneys
that
will
come
and
get
experience
and
then
move
on
to
much
better
paying
jobs
with
a
lot
less
stress.
F
But
when
I
am
hiring,
I
am
always
looking
for
folks
who
immediately
understand
that
prosecution
is
not
about
winning.
It
is
not
about
convictions,
it
is
about
having
compassion
and
mercy
for
all
of
the
people
that
are
involved
and
to
making
sure
that
the
people
involved
in
our
system,
the
people
charged
the
witnesses
and
the
victims
all
leave
our
system
in
a
better
place,
if
at
all
possible.
F
Sometimes
it's
especially
for
the
victims
just
not
possible,
but
that
they
already
understand
that
and
have
some
life
skills
or
background
that
allows
them
to
truly
know
the
alternative
and
that
I
say
that
to
mean
sometimes
my
waitre
I've
been
a
waitress.
My
entire
life,
I
was
a
waitress
up
until
covet.
I
worked
every
weekend
as
a
server
to
pay
my
student
loan
bills.
F
H
G
Thank
you.
I
I
actually
do
have
some
experience
doing
this
as
a
division
chief
in
the
attorney
general's
office,
I
supervised
about
30
assistant,
attorneys,
general
and
support
staff
and
through
kobit
we
were
losing
people
and
it
was
difficult
to
get
new
folks
in
the
way
I
would
structure
it
is
with
a
combination
of
experienced
people
and
inexperienced
people,
the
hopefully,
with
the
experienced
people,
mentoring,
the
inexperienced
people.
G
How
that
would
go
about
is-
and
I
would
try
very
very
hard
to
recruit
deputy
state's
attorneys,
who
look
like
the
community
that
they're
serving,
and
that
would
include
you
know,
posting
things
in
colleges
and
I'm
sorry
law,
schools
that
are
not
in
not
in
vermont.
We
did
that
in
the
attorney
general's
office.
We
had
some
success
with
it.
It's
it's
harder
than
than
just
that.
G
Unfortunately,
but
I
would
be
looking
for
people
who
have
a
significant
amount
of
life
experience
and
varied
experiences,
not
necessarily
people
just
getting
out
of
law
school.
I
wouldn't
need
them
to
have
done
every
internship
and
law
clerk
position
that
they've
ever
had.
Maybe
that's
my
own
personal
experience.
I
worked
full
time
and
I
went
to
school
at
night
and
I
worked
as
a
secretary.
Basically
I
had
some
internships,
but
not
not
a
lot,
so
I
would.
I
would
not
hold
that
against
people.
G
I
think
I
would
be
more
interested
in
the
hiring
process
of
making
sure
that
people
know
what
what
the
job
is
and
getting
a
sense
for
what
they
have
for
basic
life
skills
and
any
any
degree
of
wisdom
that
life
has
has
taught
them
it's
you
know.
Deputy
state's
attorney
has
its
own
powers,
and
I
would
want
to
make
sure
that
anybody
who
got
that
job
understood
that
power
power
can
hurt.
Even
if
it's
not
being
abused,
it
can
be,
it
can
hurt
if
it's
not
used
wisely.
B
G
F
Well,
I
think
our
top
priority
is
public
safety
and,
it's
frankly
in
some
ways,
the
only
priority
of
the
state's
attorney's
office.
The
difference
is
how
you
view
or
what
you
consider
public
safety,
and
my
view
is
that
true,
public
safety
means
keeping
more
people
out
of
a
legal
system
that
has
proven
for
200
years
to
cause
more
harm
than
it
does
good.
So
by
lifting
again
lifting
people
up
in
the
community
through
direct
services
and
resources
through
housing,
security
through
food
security
through
child
care
through
health
care.
F
When
those
people
going
through
the
legal
system
right
now
are
being
put
into
a
system
that
is
already
overburdened
and
with
covid
is
even
more
so
we
are
nearly
a
year
behind
in
catching
up
just
from
clovid,
and
we
were
already
struggling
to
stay
to
keep
up
with
all
the
cases
that
we
had
so
public
safety
first
and
foremost,
and
only
but
by
doing
that
through
lifting
people
up
in
the
community
and
not
lifting
a
legal
system.
Up
that
causes
more
harm.
B
I
We
have
done
a
really
good
job
of
being
ahead
of
time
and
so
ted
sarah,
with
your
permission,
we'd
like
to
field
a
couple
of
questions
from
the
chat
for
about
10
minutes
before
you
make
your
closing
remarks,
sarah
we'll
start
with
you.
This
is
a
question
from
both
of
you
lucy.
If
you
could
just
give
us
one
minute
for
these
questions,
because
it's
it's
pretty
quick
there,
we
have
a
question
sarah.
How
would
you
distinguish
yourself
from
ted
in
this
race,
yeah
and
then
it'll
be
the
same
question.
F
Well,
I
think
that
I
have
been
I've
only
ever
been
a
prosecutor
I
wanted
to
be.
I
actually
went
to
law
school
to
become
a
public
defender
and
realize
that,
through
my
internships
at
the
public
defender's
office
and
the
state's
attorney's
office,
that,
if
I
really
wanted
to
do
more
good
for
victims
of
crime
and
to
dismantle
the
system
that
is
racially
oppressive,
that
I
needed
to
become
a
prosecutor,
so
the
biggest
difference
is
that
I've
been
a
prosecutor
for
12
years.
I've
been
doing
this
job
for
12
years.
F
I
have.
I
currently
do
this
job.
I
have
over
200
cases
and
I
think
beyond
that,
the
biggest
difference
is
probably
that
I
have
acted
on
my
opinion
that
this
system
needs
to
not
only
be
reformed
but
dismantled,
and
I've
implemented
policies
that
actually
do
that,
and
I've
done
work
in
the
community
to
act,
to
work
with
organizations
to
help
them
put
into
place,
actions
and
policies
that
will
implement
criminal
justice
issues,
criminal
justice
reform
and
practices
that
dismantle
the
system.
G
I
think
we
have
different
experiences
and
and
come
from
different
perspectives.
I
I
value
people
who
have
different
different
sets
of
life
experiences.
I
I
started
my
own
practice
right
out
of
law
school.
I
had
a
public
defender
contract
where
I
also
had
hundreds
of
cases.
At
the
same
time,
I
had
a
juvenile
defender
contract,
so
I
have
first-hand
experience
in
juvenile
court
representing
parents
and
children
in
abuse
cases,
neglect
cases
and
delinquencies.
G
I
G
Well,
in
terms
of
you
know,
professional,
I
I
have
certain
well,
it
depends
on
what
we
mean
if
we're
talking
about
harm
reduction
in
terms
of
like
safe
injection
sites.
I
don't
have
any
experience
on
that.
I
think
we
should
explore
that
option
if
we're
talking
about
harm
reduction
in
terms
of
individuals.
I
F
F
I
got
my
master's
degree
in
my
in
forensic
psychology
and
a
big
part
of
that
education
was
around
my
personal
thesis
and
others
was
around
domestic
violence
and
harm
reduction
as
it
related
to
domestic
violence,
and
then,
when
I
became
a
prosecutor,
the
term
harm
reduction
was
always
coming
up
in
the
drug
use,
drug
use
sense.
I
was
the
first
person
first
states
attorney
for
sure
and
and
other
than
a
couple
of
reps,
the
first
elected
to
push
for
safe
injection
sites
in
our
community.
F
As
a
safe
attorney
and
a
deputy
state's
attorney,
I
go
to
the
scene
with
a
lot
of
untimely
fatal
overdoses,
talk
to
a
lot
of
families
about
what
their
families
could
have
used
to
save
the
life
of
their
loved
one,
and
I
do
everything
I
can
to
try
to
prevent
that
from
happening
and
if
that
means
meeting
people
where
they're
at
and
allowing
them
to
do,
behavior
that
I
might
not
personally
want
for
them,
but
understanding
that
it'll
at
least
keep
them
alive.
I
strive
to
do
that
in
any
practice
or
policies.
I
F
Yeah,
so
I
think
that
one
thing
I
I
do
try
to
focus
on
a
lot
is
the
fact
that
victims
who
go
through
the
a
restorative
process,
their
satisfaction
rate,
is
88.
They
are,
they
are
88
likely
to
have
felt
good
about
the
process
and
I
believe,
when
they're
going
through
the
legal
system.
Last
I
checked
the
data
was
around
36
or
maybe
38
percent.
F
It's
very,
very
low,
more
victims
are
not
adequately
provided
the
services
that
they
need
through
our
system
and
most
people
who
go
through
or
sort
of
process.
The
offender
as
well
are
less
likely
to
commit
more
crimes,
so
I
I
use
it
a
lot
to
tell
people
that
what
you
might
think
is
a
slap
on
the
wrist,
or,
you
might
think,
is
getting
away
with
a
crime
is
actually
better
for
victims
and
it's
better
for
offenders
in
terms
of
their
recidivism
rates,
which
is
better
for
all
of
us.
F
I
G
I
think
this
is
going
to
be
the
issue
going
forward.
I
I
get
very
concerned
when
people
talk
about
law
and
order
that
they
are
using
that
for
code
for
going
back
to
the
way
things
were
like
in
the
1950s
or
something
like
that
or
dragnet
episodes
from
the
60s.
We
can't
go
back,
it
wasn't
fair,
then
it
wouldn't
be
fair.
Now,
restorative
justice
is
a
wonderful
thing
to
use
and
it
should
be
used
as
much
as
it
can.
G
Okay,
I
but
restorative
justice.
I
think
that
it
doesn't
work
for
every
case,
and
my
concern
is
that
people
are
going
to
be
that
the
public
is
that
if
we
start
using
the
criminal
system
for
more
cases,
that
should
be
in
the
criminal
system
and
not
in
the
restorative
justice
system,
that
we
don't
overdo
it.
And
I
want
to
make
sure
that
that
balance
is
strong.
I
G
You
know
the
the
answer
is
yes
and
here's.
Why
it's
it's,
as
I
say
to
people
when
I
talk
about
this,
it's
even
worse
than
that.
I
think
all
of
us
have
a
a
sliver
or
a
wedge
of
racism
in
them.
At
the
least,
I
think
I
learned
it.
I
will
share
a
private
story
that
you
know
we
have
two
children
who
are
adopted
from
china
and
I'm
a
native
vermonter.
We
don't
have
a
lot
of
minorities
in
vermont.
G
She
is
my
daughter,
I
am
her
father,
but
that
that
woke
me
to
the
idea
that
I
think
all
of
us
have
to
deal
with
it
and
again
we
have
to
deal
with
it
time
and
time
and
time
again,
because
it's
like
being
in
shape,
you
can't
just
do
ten
push-ups
and
say:
okay,
I
solved
it.
You've
got
to
continually
work
at
it.
I
think,
unfortunately,
this
is
part
of
human
nature
and
I
I'm
very
suspicious
of
people
who
say
that
they
they
don't
have
any
racial
issues
to
deal
with.
I
F
Yeah,
it
absolutely
exists.
It
exists
in
the
entire
system
of
prosecution
and
incarceration.
So
it's
of
course,
going
to
exist
in
our
office.
What
I
do
about
it
is
look
at
the
data
and
look
at
our
numbers
to
determine
whether
or
not
we
can
actually
see
it
by
our
numbers.
And
then
I
work
with
community
organizations
who
are
are
impacted
by
it
and
are
doing
this
work
to
figure
out
ways
that
I
can
do
something
within
my
office.
F
As
I
said,
keeping
as
many
people
out
of
our
system
in
general
is
always
going
to
help
keep
our
racial
numbers
down
our
racial
disparities
down.
But
when
we
see
that
more
people
of
color
being
held
on
cash
bail,
I
eliminated
the
use
of
cash
bail.
When
we
saw
that
the
numbers
of
people
be
black
and
brown
vermonters
being
pulled
over
by
police
officers
was
disproportionately
high.
I
Thank
you
so
much.
We
have
one
more
question
written
in
the
chat.
We
do
have
time
for
another
question,
probably
if
you
have
something
that
you'd
like
to
write,
you'd
like
to
see
ted
and
or
sarah
respond
to,
you
could
put
in
the
chat
right
now.
But
if
we
don't
get
anything
else,
then
this
might
be
the
last
one.
Sarah
we'll
start
with
you.
What
has
been
the
hardest
part
about
being
the
state's
attorney.
F
It's
a
really
hard
job.
It
is
like.
I
said
our
office
is
by
far
the
biggest
in
the
state
it
holds.
You
know
we
have
a
little.
Our
county
is
over
a
third
of
the
state's
population.
We
have
between
10
and
15
000
cases
that
come
through
our
office
a
year.
We
have
14
attorneys,
including
myself
doing
that
work.
The
math
is
not
in
our
favor
and
we
are
doing
that
with
very
limited
resources.
F
I
G
I
think
it's
going
to
be
balancing
the
the
different
demands
of
the
job.
When
I
was
the
division
chief
in
the
attorney
general's
office,
I
described
my
job
as
you
know.
What,
if
I
would
just
to
describe
my
job,
I
would
say
my
job
is
to
be
interrupted
all
day
and
that's
what
I
did.
The
phone
would
ring.
Emails
would
go
off
and
that
within
that
you
have
to
set
a
goal
and
you
have
to
set
steps
to
achieve
those
goals.
G
I
think
the
hardest
thing
about
being
state's
attorney
is
going
to
be
balancing
the
need
to
create
new
systems
within
the
office,
with
keeping
up
with
the
workload
and
with
keeping
up
with
being
the
liaison
between
the
criminal
justice
system
and
everybody
else
victims,
particularly
but
everybody,
including
defendants
and
defendants,
families
and
defense
attorneys
and
the
police.
It's
that
that's
gonna,
be
that
takes
a
lot
of
time
and
it
takes
a
lot
of
sustained
focus
and
effort.
I
G
Well,
I
I
think
the
most
important
reason
people
should
vote
for
me
would
have
to
do
with
trying
to
bring
a
sense
of
and
again
I
you
know,
I
I
don't
really
like
questions
like
this.
I
gotta
tell
you
I
don't.
I
there's
nothing
personal
in
any
of
this
at
all.
Sarah
george
is
a
good
person
and
I
I
value
her.
We
have
a
difference
of
policies.
G
I
I
think
that
some
of
the
policies
have
been
put
in
place
and
maybe
they're
not
policies,
but
their
practices
are
are
things
that
could
be
changed.
I
think
we
could
seek
conditions
of
release
and
we
disagree
on
this
that
are
more
stringent
when
there
are
repeat
offenses,
I
I
think
that
the
the
pretext
stop
issue.
I
agree,
the
racism
is
there,
but
I
would
like
to
address
it
in
another
way.
So
you
know
we.
We
have
differences
in
policies.
G
I
F
F
I
see
10
000
plus
a
year
that
go
really
well,
and
I
want
to
keep
doing
this
work
to
make
sure
that
I
am
the
person
making
those
decisions
and
making
those
policies.
So
that
we
don't
go
backwards
and
I'm
hoping
that
people
will
vote
for
me
so
that
we
can
keep
pushing
forward
and
not
give
in
to
the
narrative
that
the
only
way
to
be
safe
is
to
put
people
in
jail
or
to
have
more
people
in
the
legal
system.
I
A
G
G
G
I
will
say
the
system
does
need
to
continue
to
be
reformed.
There
is
race,
there's
racism
in
in
the
system.
I
have
stood
next
to
people
who
have
been
racially
profiled
and
pulled
over.
I
have
been
in
court
when
I
saw,
I
heard
a
judge,
say
a
racially
charged
thing.
I
was
a
very
young
attorney
and
I
live
with
the
genuine
shame
that
I
didn't
know
what
to
do,
and
I
didn't
do
anything
about
it
and
I'm
sorry
about
that.
G
But
these
things
actually
happen
and
now
they're
happening
under
more
of
a
cloak
of
secrecy,
so
the
system
definitely
does
need
to
be
reformed.
I
would
like
to
put
my
experience
to
work
with
that
and
with
continuing
to
work
on
public
safety
issues.
Again,
I
I've
done
hundreds
and
hundreds
and
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
criminal
defense
cases.
I
also
have
civil
litigation
experience.
G
G
All
I
can
say
is
if,
if
I
am
elected
I
this
is
not
a
and
I'm
not
saying
that
sarah
is
looking
at
it
this
way
in
any
way.
At
all
talking
about
myself,
this
is
not
a
stepping
stone
for
me
and
I
will
use
every
degree
of
mind
and
spirit
that
I
possess
to
dedicate
myself
to
the
office
and
to
the
concepts
of
justice
and
fairness
and
balance.
I
would
ask
for
your
consideration
and
thank
you
I
know
actually.
G
F
Thank
you
and
thank
you
so
much
for
putting
this
on
and
for
everybody
who
has
tuned
in.
I
am
incredibly
grateful
and
honored
to
be
the
chittenden
county
states
attorney.
I
have
been
honored
since
the
day
that
I
was
appointed.
I
never
expected
to
be
in
politics.
I
never
had
any
interest
in
being
in
politics.
F
I
took
on
this
job
because
I
felt
like
I
had
something
to
add
and
I
felt
like
I
had
the
courage
to
do
some
things
that
other
people
might
not,
and
that
was
my
dad
is
a
carpenter
and
whenever
I've
bought
houses
he
always
tells
me
or
I
look
at
houses.
He
always
tells
me
it
doesn't
matter
what
the
top
looks
like.
F
You've
got
to
go
straight
to
the
basement
and
determine
what
the
foundation
looks
like
that's
what
I've
done
with
the
legal
system,
I've
gone
to
the
bottom,
I've
seen
what
the
foundation
is
made
out
of,
and
so
I'm
not
interested
in
just
making
the
top
look.
Prettier,
I'm
interested
in
really
digging
out
the
foundation
and
making
sure
that
our
system
stops
racially
disproportionately
policing,
prosecuting
and
incarcerating
people
of
color
vermont.
Not
only
isn't
immune
to
this,
but
we're
second
in
the
country,
with
most
most
disproportionate
prison
population
to
our
to
our
popular
racial
makeup.
F
We
are
not
only
not
immune,
we
are
doing
a
terrible
job
and
we
have
to
stop
acting
as
if
we're
doing
everything
that
we
can
when
there
are
so
many
other
things
that
we
can
be
doing
in
the
legal
system
to
keep
people
out
of
a
legal
system
that
is
proven
to
do
more
harm
than
good.
That
is
what
I've
been
working
on.
It
does
come
with
a
lot
of
pushback.
It
comes
with
a
lot
of
fear-mongering.
F
F
A
A
I
know
it
has
been
for
me
and
if
this
has
sparked
more
questions
for
you
and
you
would
like
to
reach
out
to
the
candidates,
we've
asked
them
to
provide
a
way
for
them
to
be
in
touch
with
us,
and
we
will
share
that
with
you
and
put
it
in
with
the
video
description
of
the
recording
that
will
be
posted
on
our
youtube
channel,
and
you
can
find
the
link
for
that
on
our
website.
Www
dot
via
vt.org.