With rapid growth throughout the county we have experienced a sudden increase in homelessness and individuals experiencing mental illness, substance use issues and worse. Right now Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City are spending tremendous amounts of money on accountability which means more police, more jails, and punishing the homeless for their dire circumstances. This ineffective solution largely ends up being resolved in the criminal justice system, a system that is ill-equipped to handle this and far too often works to break peoples lives further than it does to address the many issues that result in homelessness. It's also incredibly expensive.

Real criminal justice reform requires someone who understands the criminal justice system and has worked on the frontline of that system. As a public defender, I've spent a decade helping our worst off residents out of the criminal justice system and into housing, into substance use treatment, and into effective mental health programming.

We cannot jail our way out of this problem, especially as we continue to grow as a community. Together we can address homelessness head on while compassionately helping people avoid the criminal justice system and get them out of that system.