Letters of Support for Jackie Sartoris
I have spent decades working with people with lives shaped by poverty, mental illness, substance use disorders and traumas like homelessness. I think the justice system works best when it helps people gain stability rather than only making hard situations worse. As district attorney, Jackie Sartoris has worked for stability, improved lives and strengthened public safety.
Sartoris is smart and pragmatic. Her solutions address underlying problems. She has helped connect unhoused residents to housing, expanded restorative justice, built diversion programs for people with substance use disorders and addressed gaps in the mental health docket. She cares about the law, the person and the overall health of the community.
Sartoris’ leadership is practical, humane and forward-thinking. She thinks creatively and I’ve seen her actions make a difference.
— Cullen Ryan, Portland
Jackie Sartoris has earned another term as Cumberland County’s District Attorney, not just for her promises, but for her actions.
I’ve advocated for restorative justice for years. Building dynamic, effective, and sustainable programs is challenging. Sartoris has done this. She’s passionate about restorative justice, expanded it, invested in it, and made it a real option in our system. Restorative justice works: it reduces repeat offenses, allows people to repair harm, and focuses on positive outcomes.
Sartoris’ vision and leadership have grown restorative justice programs into an essential tool for handling cases.
Providing justice and ensuring public safety is about more than punishment. It’s about outcomes, changed behavior, and whether people learn from their mistakes or change their behavior and move forward. Jackie Sartoris understands this balance and has proven she can deliver on it.
— Stanley Eller, J.D., M.S., Brunswick
I first became aware of District Attorney Jackie Sartoris when she was instrumental in putting together a letter from hundreds of Maine attorneys concerning the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She demonstrated her skill at collaboration and leadership when she convinced many attorneys to step outside their comfort zones and publicly advocate for a thorough and fair examination of Kavanaugh’s qualifications and background.
The DA job is a thankless one. There are always people who are frustrated by an often slow-moving process. After all, the district attorney’s office is part of a justice system that doesn’t change quickly or easily. Even so, DA Sartoris has brought about significant change and is working on more to come:
She is broadening the use of proven restorative justice programs for low-level first-time offenders, to help prevent them from becoming repeat offenders.
She has secured funding for the processing of rape kits, previously left unexamined for decades.
She has brought together a broad variety of people outside the DA’s office to discuss new and better ways to secure justice, safety and security in our communities.
She knows, like many of our own friends and families know, that we can’t arrest our way out of the heartbreaking effects of drug abuse, and is expanding the capacity of diversion programs to connect people to effective treatment and long-term recovery.
I will be happy to vote for her for Cumberland County district attorney in the upcoming June primary.
— Susie Crimmons, Portland