Sarah is the Chittenden County State’s Attorney in Burlington, Vermont. She has been a prosecutor in Chittenden County since January 2011 and sworn in as the elected State’s Attorney on January 20th, 2017. Chittenden County houses over a quarter of Vermont’s total population, is the most diverse county in the State, and stands out for their progressive approach to public health and public safety.
Sarah is the second woman in Vermont history to serve in this role and since being Chittenden County State’s Attorney has focused her efforts on overhauling the criminal legal system. She uses her incredible prosecutorial discretion to implement evidence based practices and policies that work to keep her community safe. Sarah is dedicated to providing opportunity, intervention and holistic support to survivors, families and offenders; holding individuals accountable and implementing smart-on-crime policies that promote safe, healthy, and strong communities.
POLICY PRIORITIES
Public Safety. First, and foremost, work with community partners to advance public safety. By prioritizing the prosecution of violent crime, and promoting alternatives to prosecution on lower level offenses, substance and mental health services over incarceration, and using restorative justice practices whenever possible, Sarah and her team can address harm to victims, hold offenders accountable, and lower recidivism rates and incarceration rates.
Understand and acknowledge that our legal system is built on systemic racism and classism. Our system is not broken - it was designed to disproportionately impact black and brown people, and people living in poverty. We must reckon with this fact and work to repair the harm to these communities.
Gun Violence. Sarah believes that we must hold people accountable who commit acts of gun violence. We must do this by partnering with community organizations that can address the root causes of gun violence and interrupt the cycle of harm caused. This requires a holistic response to a complicated and critical issue in our community.
Hold police accountable. Sarah pushed for legislation that would lower the bar for bringing criminal charges for excessive force by police. She supports the many hardworking and ethical officers, and holds others accountable for any misconduct that would degrade the trust between law enforcement and the community. By doing this, she can strengthen the relationship between the community and law enforcement.
Prioritize harm reduction. Sarah addresses substance use through harm reduction rather than criminalization. She focuses much of her drug policies around education and tough conversations that re-examine the law enforcement response to drug use. Sarah has advocated for the opening of safe consumption spaces and was the first prosecutor in the nation to essentially legalize the possession of Buprenorphine.
Keep children out of the legal system. Sarah supported and advocated for legislation that led to Vermont being the first in the nation to raise the age of family court to 18, and extends juvenile jurisdiction through 22 years old.
Healing over punishment. By implementing policies that address underlying causes of criminal behavior, meeting basic needs of offenders and working to heal all harm caused, we can truly provide justice.
Strengthen services. Strengthening the mental health services in the community and allowing those services to provide support to people who are struggling rather than allow for the constant reliance of our legal system to fill that role and criminalize mental illness.
Community Partners. We need to strengthen and expand open lines of communication between our public service systems, education and judiciary, and bring with it a safer community. Sarah believes we can do this by expanding community services and shrinking the footprint of those we bring into the legal system.
Accuracy. Sarah believes in designing and implementing policies that are based on accurate data and research. It is incredibly important that these conversations be rooted in truth and transparency, rather than fear mongering and narratives that fuel a mistrust between community members and public officials.