EMPATHY & COLLABORATION
I’m no fool. I spend my days defending the most disenfranchised among us. The corridors of Hennepin County courts are filled with those who have wronged and been wronged. I rarely see a defendant with a private school education, a college degree, or a stable family. I rarely see a young man in the courts who was mentored by another man. I never see drug addicts leave jail without the same addiction.
Did you know?
It is more expensive to incarcerate someone in Minnesota for one year than it is to send someone to treatment, set them up with affordable housing, and pay their college tuition—combined.
The truth is, there are not enough jail cells for all our neighbors, family, and friends who have made harmful choices. There are not enough suburbs to run to because, in the end, crime, addiction, and desperation climb every fence and cross every zip code. And there are not enough tax dollars in the universe to sustain the toll that mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and the opioid crisis have taken on our communities.
America is at a crisis point, and our challenges are urgent and too large to be met alone. The fifth congressional district needs a congresswoman who wants the seat and the solutions. Our congresswoman needs to be present in her district, working with mayors, working with community groups. She needs to hear dissenting voices. She should go to Washington. Collaborate. Compromise. Champion.
And then come back. And do it again
I’m Sarah Gad.
I’m running in the fifth.
Come with me.
