By Michael Bielawski
A November, 2022 video of Chittenden County State Prosecutor Sarah George reveals her ambition to “dismantle the criminal legal system” as her main motivation for entering this line of work.
She also admits to firing prosecutors that she disagreed with and not formally charging offenders with crimes whenever possible, among other statements.
George was speaking at a Halloween, 2022 public forum called “Change from Within: A New Vision for the 21st Century Prosecutor” at Harvard Law School.
The event was cosponsored by The Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) at Harvard Law School and Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), an organization funded by lefting philanthropist George Soros.
Professor Alex Whiting moderated. Scheduled panelists included:
● Miriam Krinsky – Executive Director, Fair and Just Prosecution
● Alvin Bragg – New York County (Manhattan, NY) District Attorney. (He was unable to attend because he was in court prosecuting Donald Trump.)
● Sarah George – Chittenden County (Burlington, VT) State’s Attorney
● Eric Gonzalez – Kings County (Brooklyn, NY) District Attorney
● Mark Gonzalez – Nueces County (Corpus Christi, TX) District Attorney
According to her Wikipedia bio, “George was appointed to the position in 2017 [by Gov. Phil Scott] when her predecessor T.J. Donovan left office after being elected Attorney General of Vermont. She won a full term in 2018 with 99.1% of the vote.[2] In 2022, she was challenged in the Democratic primary by Ted Kenney, a member of the Williston Board of Selectmen who claimed that George’s policies made the county less safe. Kenney was supported by multiple police unions, and the Vermont Republican Party encouraged Republicans to request a Democratic ballot so they could vote against George. However, George easily prevailed in the primary, defeating Kenney by a 53%-33% margin.”
She speaks at the forum starting at about 9:30, 28:40, and 1:06:20 in the video. At the start, she says, “I got my masters in Forensic Psychology and during that program, became very aware of the injustices in our justice system so I went to law school because I wanted to dismantle the criminal legal system and thought that that’s the best way to do it.”
She admits to stacking her office with like-minded public defenders.
“So I was able to get rid of the prosecuters that were in that office that I felt were harming our community and replace them with public defenders that I knew I wouldn’t have to convince why we were going to do things differently,” George said.
Later she again talks about purging those from her office who she disagreed with.
“I knew the people I needed to get rid of and everybody else in the office knew it too. I didn’t have to worry about that aspect, and then I brought in public defenders that we had worked with for years and we had really good relationships with or people from Legal Aid,” she said.
She also admitted that one of her primary objectives is to not take cases whenever possible. She says, “And to actually decline to bring in cases is probably the greatest power that we have.”
She added on this subject, “So I’m trying to find ways to not charge people and to find community services that those folks can connect with instead of going through our system and then eliminating the use of cash bail, attempting to divert or decline any cases possible, using probation and parole as absolute last resorts, and incarceration as an absolute last resort, all the way up the line.”
She admits to ignoring her critics because she says they are lying. She said, “It’s so true, I get attacked from both sides. And I think that one thing, I frankly don’t pay much attention to the right side anymore because it’s based on lies and fear and it’s never based on actual facts and so I tend not to pay any attention to that.”
She expressed frustration that anyone is ever referred to as ‘a defendant’ in the courtroom.
“I mean that was a historically purposeful thing to dehumanize the folks that you’re prosecuting and not know their names, not care about their names, not care about them,” she said.
She also admits that one of her top goals is to close Vermont’s prison for women. She said, “I am too a hopeful abolitionist, I think that I actually get a hard time sometimes because I’m on the board of an abolition organization a nonprofit that is working towards closing the women’s prison in Vermont and not reopening a new one,” she said.
She says that ultimately the legal system should not be the answer.
“I think overall what it means is finding ways that the legal system doesn’t become the answer to the societal issues,” she said.
A commenter says no thanks
A commenter on the YouTube video says what these activist judges are doing is ignoring their responsibilities to protect the public by not holding people accountable for their actions.
@MrBBPrinter wrote, “I find this oddity. The purpose of the law is to protect the rights of the people. When people choose to live in an adverse relationship with the law and the balance of society how do the innocent receive justice?
“If the people in a society want to change the type of laws they choose to live by and the type of justice they want then these people (in the video) need to become advocates for these changes and convince the electorate that laws need to be changed. To behave in the manner they advocate here is to advocate for a dictatorial relationship between prosecutors and citizens. My opinion, they ignore human nature.”
The author is a reporter for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Crime
Like so many in the political world in Chittenden County she needs to be removed, but this can only be done by those who vote in Chittenden County, and given their past, and present beliefs that the hairbrain ideas of the left are the answer, not the problem to their self imposed issues, I don’t hold much hope for that mentally defective electorate cutting their losses, admitting their wrong, and doing a 180.
That explains a lot about the rise in crime.
That’s like going to medical school to shut down hospitals. Endangers the citizenry without actually addressing and resolving social injustice. Inane and counterproductive as time will prove.
Phil Scott should be embarrassed that he hired a communist, as why crime is rising in our back yards!
Gov. Phil put her in as an unknown quantity. It is the voters of Chittenden County who have re-elected her, even after a primary challenge by a very competent and common-sense democrat attorney. Dont blame Phil.
his whole tenure as Gov is disturbing, he should have vetted her, no excuses buddy
I agree Rich. I wonder if Donavon, whom she previously worked for, was aware of her extreme beliefs? Sarah-I hope your family remains safe from some of the convicts you have released. I’ll just leave it at that here and now.
It seems like Scott, at the very least, was ignorant in choosing her. What were her qualifications? Who convinced him to pick her? She’s a pro-criminal communist, among the worst prosecutors in America. He has to own that.
Phil Scott is a communist.
He’s too stupid to know he’s a communist.
Sarah George needs to be REMOVED immediately for dereliction of DUTY and for VIOLATING her sworn oath to UPHOLD the laws of the state of Vermont!!! Prior to this, we all knew full well what she was doing, but we supposedly had no evidence to prove that it was all fully intentional and not merely happenstance or a case of sheer incompetence.
I HOPE that all the citizens and/or visitors to VT will begin to sue the living HELL out of this hellish nightmare of a public servant & this office set in place to protect the welfare & safety of the people in Vermont —- NOT to protect the criminals.
After she has been eradicated – she then needs to be charged and tried for TREASON in a federal court for engineering and engaging in SUBVERSIVE activities.
Enough IS Enough, Vermont!!!!
——Sarah George: A Clear & Present Danger to Democracy and Human Life!!!——
And Charity……..YOU are next!!!
Who is going to REMOVE her, who is going to SUE her, who is going to Eradicate her and charge her with TREASON? How is it that Vermonters have elected and reelected this “hellish nightmare of a public servant” by substantial margins? I hope your daily rants and toothless threats against duly elected officials make YOU feel better somehow!!!
The people of Vermont who are the GOVERNMENT themselves whom these abject fanatics attend to as mere SERVANTS of the PUBLIC are now to: PETITION the GOVERNMENT for a redress of GREIVANCES: as per a little document referred to as the US Constitution – THAT is how!!!!!!!! Ever take a read?
And like it or not, this Communist SWORE an OATH of office to SERVE & PROTECT the PEOPLE of VT so as to: …..”NOT directly or indirectly do any ACT or anything INJURIOUS to the Constitution or government thereof.”….thereby, Mark- NOT following the rule of LAW is inherently subversive and in CLEAR VIOLATION of the Constitution. Grasp any of this yet?
The people HARMED by her openly admitted dereliction of DUTY that she is sworn and expected & anticipated to engage are WHO can SUE her and inevitably SHALL!
My daily “rants”? Lol. My daily exercised RIGHT to FREE speech and all of the evidence and the factuality it REVEALS must be quite threatening to the projected, warped, disgraceful conclusion that this derelict dolt obviously hopes to achieve in order to have caused you such upsetment.
The real danger here is that an attorney general is there to prosecute the laws, if she is not prosecuting the laws and is instead prosecuting who she feels like then she is making up the law as she goes and is ignoring the will of the people, not just the right as she stated.
She also is a member of Fair and Just Prosecution the same organization that helps to mentor this mentality across the United States. There are many young attorneys that are following this same mentality and it goes with the mentality of the school systems that raised most of the children. “No consequences for your actions.”
We are in big trouble and this type of mentality is the prime culprit.
Not that I would ever advocate for it but wouldn’t it be ironic if she was a victim of a crime and the criminals defense is that she didn’t prosecute anyone else for the crime so she can’t prosecute the perpetrator?
Like several Democrats in Congress have been victims of violent crime this year – well their policies caused the problem.
Governor Scott hired this person as well as Xusana Davis of the state equity office to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development agenda. He isn’t ashamed. He knows exactly what he did. Xusana Davis is working in partnership with Abundant Sun, an international organization, to implement the sustainable development goals and new circular economy envisioned by the World Economic Forum. Go out to the Abundant Sun website which confirms that it is working with the state of Vermont. Previously, the projects page featured Xusana Davis’ name and included a video, which I shared in an article published on VDC. Since the articles publishing, Abundant Sun removed Davis’ name from its website. I took a screenshot, so the proof exists.
Here is a link to the Fair and Just Prosecution website. Under the menu select “Meet the Movement.” Sara George is featured with her bio.
The New Vision for Justice for the 21st century is World Economic Forum signature language. The WEF uses the same language relative to education as “21st century education or education for the 21st century.”
https://fairandjustprosecution.org/issues/a-new-vision-for-the-justice-system/#:~:text=21%20Principles%20for%20the%2021st%20Century%20Prosecutor%20offers%20concrete%20steps,make%20communities%20safer%20and%20healthier
Oh…..
My…..
God…..
This is truly horrible. This attitude and approach is exactly what we DO NOT NEED as we confront the worsening crime in Chittenden and surrounding counties.
Gotta ask…..who does she report to? And by what means
could she be removed from the office?
She “reports” or answers to the voters of Chittenden County. The State’s Attorney is an elected official with a 4-year term; the position was created by the Vermont Constitution. An elected constitutional official is “removed” from office by impeachment by the House of Representative followed by a trial in the Vermont Senate. The forcible removal would only happen if, after the House impeachment (which could only occur after a 2/3 vote in favor) the Senate voted to “convict” and remove the official. The legislature commenced an impeachment investigation against a State’s Attorney (Franklin County) recently and that State’s Attorney resigned, I believe before the impeachment proceedings formally commenced. Of course, the voters have a say and the information in the article to which you are reacting could be an issue in the next election.
Very helpful to know and thank you. Somehow, some way, a very viable candidate with more constructive views of the role of the justice system in combating crime, will hopefully be identified to run against Ms. George.
Tom, Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t the AG’s Office remove Ms. George from a case because they did not like the way she wanted to approach prosecuting it ? (I beleive that she was not going to prosecute due to the probability of an insanity defense being raised ?) If that was the case, could the AG’s Office step in on any (all) others if they suspect that the course taken by the State’s Attorney was not in the best interest of the people he or she is sworn to protect ? Just wondering.
Patrick I believe this is what you are referring to:
https://vtdigger.org/2019/06/04/chittenden-states-attorney-drops-three-major-cases-due-insanity-defense/
I remember Gov Scott or TJ donovan (also a member of Fari and just prosecution) requiring Sarah George to “revisit” the cases she dismissed as due to insanity, and I can find articles about that, but I also remember the president asking for those cases to be revisited but I cant find evidence of that now.
Initiate. Although I sadly expect that the people and those who represent them as public servants to their wishes & needs will instead do nothing — remaining silent and resigned to the fact that their state and their nation are being undermined by a Marxist movement that is deconstructing & destroying forever the American Constitutional Republic founded hundreds of years ago and which remains the sole governance that allows freedom & liberty for all. Not merely a “select” few.
INITIATE to forcibly remove YOU the People!!!
This article is not news. ms. george made her views known last election cycle. Her opponent made ms. george’s views known last election cycle. She was reelected by a 20 point margin. Chittenden County voters do not care about such things, as evidenced by whom gets the votes. For those Chittenden County residents that might be outraged by this article, your outrage is 18 months late. For those Vermont voters unable to correlate electing the D/P elitists and what the consequence might be, here is example # 7.
If people were wondering why Chittenden County is in the middle of a petty crime spree, now we know the reason why. We have a so-called prosecutor who flatly refuses to do her job, and to hell with the damage her position is inflicting on the public.
When there is no penalty for doing the crime, there is no reason to stop doing it. Retail theft is so bad in Burlington that stores are closing their doors and relocating outside the city, only to discover that the thieves have followed them to their new locations. Why should they stop committing such lucrative crimes when the penalty is a slap on the wrist?
George has blamed the badly undermanned police for not investigating cases and giving her office enough evidence for convictions, yet she admits that she tosses every single case she can.
It’s easy to say the system is broken, especially if everything you do is aimed at making that statement true.
Governor Scott appointed Sarah George
You reap what you sow
…and the voters of Chittenden County re-elected her. Dont blame Phil. Think of the alternatives:
-Gov. Weinberger
-Gov. Baruth
-Gov. Krowinski
…scary?
Rich, he is purportedly a republican, likely the last the state shall ever see. Why does he continuously place democrats and progressives in every office in every position he can? To be “equitable”? The entire statehouse is full of them.
public enemies to 1A, 2A, how long can Vt tolerate these socialists, can we get some support for Dan Banyai and Slate Ridge issue, the man has done everything the good ole boys asked him, he’s being railroaded by a corrupt board, and no one seems to care, he’s at the crux of these issues today as we type.
I suggest none of those would be worse.
Frightening is what those 3 avowed marxists are!!!
There is only one cure for liberal ideologies that infect and plague our society. That is revolution. It will be started by people like george and we need to pray to God we finish it.
the judge will be your last tool in the liberty box/// keep it handy
who, this judge, LMAO!
I think he is referring to the “Taurus Judge”….google it.
The median age of Chittenden County is 37. The indoctrination is complete. This is what the youth of today want – it is THEIR new world – and they believe they have the answer for all the bad practices of the past that got us to where we are today. They are going to get what they want, but wisdom tells us they won’t like what they get. “Youth is the most precious thing in life, it is too bad it has to be wasted on young folk” – George Bernard Shaw.
Thank you for your honest and transparent comment. What is occuring is most definitely a revolution, which was largely driven by the writings of Herbert Marcuse in One Dimensional Man. Marcuse was a neo-communism and Marxist who taught in America at many Universities. I believe including Harvard. He believed that capitalist societies tricked people into a false consciousness, which restricts people from understanding their oppression. He advocated for the intelligencia (universities) and the black ghetto population to come together in revolution (enter BLM and Antifa).
In 2022, UNESCO put out a report to Universities globally called Knowledge-Driven Actions: Transforming higher education for global sustainability. The report called on students and faculty to complete the revolution inspired by Herbert Marcuse in his book One Dimensional Man referenced above.
The outcome of this revolution is the destruction of the free market system, which will be replaced by an eco-comu-fascist regime and equity -based socialism.
hey hey pfizer phil how many vermonters did you kill///
They are all professional money grabbing politicians that need the boot!!
It’s true George won her primary, but getting 53% as an incumbent isn’t really a ringing endorsement. They need to try to knock her out again. Eventually people have enough and she is very forthright about caring for criminals more than the people she is supposed to serve.
I agree she should be challenged again, but I also don’t have much confidence in the integrity of our elections. Vermont uses the ERIC system, which is supposed to help clean up the voter rolls, but instead helps their local activists use the databases to use dead, moved, and inactive voter registrations to insert fraudulent ballots.
Her job as with other S A’s, is to enforce the laws on the books NOW. She has no leeway given to her to not give each case dueprocess on the basis of the facts that surround the case. She cannot rewrite law or refuse to enforce the law. She should have known that going into this position. She needs to be in the Legislature if her goals are to change the S A system.
She’s a disgrace to her profession. She took an oath which she has failed to uphold and she should be removed immediately
Yes, Sarah George needs to be removed from office, there are two problems, the first one is she’s from Chittenden County, and secondly she’s woke and with the slated progressive politics she’ll never be voted out or leave unless she looks for a higher office……………. Be aware !!
But she’s only part of the problem, as long as Vermont keeps electing progressives into the seats in Montpelier, people like her will be in control, and that will be the demise of the state, as it’s already in a downhill spiral, but maybe real Vermonters will start to wake up, due to the Debt, Crime, Drugs, and the plethora of homeless living on your dime…………… time will tell
Good reporting. Shining the light of truth on the ideological mindset that opposes justice rather than fights for it as the job demands. Sane voters in Chittenden County should dump her ASAP. She demeans the office.
Patrick Finnie
Yes, the AG has the independent authority to enforce Vermont law throughout Vermont without permission from any State’s Attorney. The AG’s authority overlaps the authority of the 14 county prosecutors – State’s Attorneys;- in general terms they only prosecute in the counties in which they are elected. In practice, the lion-share of criminal cases are handled by the county prosecutor unless there is a conflict (when a police officer is accused of a crime oftentimes another prosecutor is asked to step in) or if the AG has some special program like a drug task force.
So was my recollection of the AGO prosecuting this case because they were worried about the way Ms. George would handle or not handle it correct ? I can take it. I’ve been wrong once before :)Thanks
Considering she was speaking at Harvard, where the President, Claudine Gay was forced to resign because she is a fraud, seeing Sarah George confessing she is a fraud is not a shocker. Considering her track record, she is an installed, belligerent occupier of a State law enforcement office. Very similar to the Secretary of State in Maine and our Secretary of State, et al. Get the picture yet? Infiltration, not invasion.
The good news is I hear the infiltrators are infiltrated. There are some who will turncoat on the turncoats. 2024 – mass exposures, mass arrests and mass take downs and step downs. It is going to be biblical indeed! Brace for impact! God wins! He’s got them all and the receipts are pouring out – Hallelujah!
Ms. George is the “State Attorney” for Chittendon County, Vermont. She had to swear an oath when she was appointed and then again when she was elected. She has publicly stated she will not uphold the tenets of her position as outlined in her oath.
We can file ethic’s violations and make complaints. I believe that since she is a public official, it doesn’t matter where or from whom a complaint originates. So, if you really want to “do” something instead of just whipping off a few scathing comments here, put your writing ability to use and make a complaint. One caveat… take a good look around the first website, prosecutors.vermont.gov… because it states right on the website that “Protecting and promoting public safety is a core function of the Department. Seeking justice is our paramount goal.” If she fails to seek justice for a victim, she is violating her own office goal. As many have pointed out here, “lawfare” is what we have to resort to these days. Well, that includes making complaints. Here are the websites for both.
https://prosecutors.vermont.gov/
https://ethicscommission.vermont.gov/file-complaint
On the ethics commission page, there is a place to file a complaint and also on the left, a quick summary of the Code of Ethics. I believe she violates the code of ethics by number 6- “No using state position for improper personal or financial gain”. If she is violating the job by impairing public safety she meets number 6 because she wants to “dismantle the criminal legal system”. That is a violation of her job description.
Then there is the violation of “not maintaining the public safety”. Surely there has to be a lawyer out there that finds this egregious and wants to take on the state or at least the county? Or some wealthy benefactor or interested party who wants to make “lawfare” work for the people instead of the criminals?
Make a complaint to both, for her choices and her public statements. She is singlehandedly making Chittendon County and by trickle down effect, the entire state of Vermont, an unsafe place to live and work.
So VDC readers, do you take the challenge? Will you do the least thing you can do, which is file a complaint?
Respectfully,
Pam Baker
I appreciate the fact there are protocols to prod the State to take action against themselves or others who violate State rules, laws, ethics, or moral duties. However, my question is after filing a complaint pointing out violations and suspicious financial conduct with the State, I haven’t heard a peep since. Upon further research, I found numerous complaints filed one right after another on the same facility. All complaints allegedly resolved per the same signature on all documented letters. The established pattern of failures and incompetence is baked into the cake here in Vermont. They cover each other’s backsides rather than address or fix anything that matters. You know why? They might actually have to do some work, fire some people, fine or convict a friend, relative, colleague or associate, or hurt someone’s feelings. Too much to ask of a corrupt bureaucracy.
Ms. Casey, I know you are correct. But in toto, we do have some power. We must believe that, or all is lost… all… lost. I’m certain that is where we are headed but I just can’t go gently into that good night. I will not go quietly. We must do all we can. And sometimes I need a booster of positivity myself.
Thank you for doing what you do to shed light and resources on our heinous state government.
Respectfully,
Pam Baker
Ah Melissa, now you have something there. Perhaps “they” and Sarah George are not corrupt, woke or fraudulent. Just Lazy. W#ith a need to water ski on their own lake.
Thank you Pam, for raising the standard and being a light instead of a dim switch. From my experience, nothing short of an electric cattle prod will budge the entrenched “go along to get along” crowd. Doing the “right thing” isn’t in the State vernacular these days. All thanks to the mind controlling, fear based, propaganda campaigns that drove many into Stockholm Syndrome and pretending if they just put their head down and work harder, it will all go away and be “normal” again. We are far beyond that delusion. In my opinion, it will have to get much worse, and it will, before citizens find the courage to break free of the chains around their necks and ankles. They have to choose to sacrifice their creature comforts for the sake of humanity or be forced to shortly – and many are not prepared, physically, emotionally, and above all, spiritually. The hour of decision is now to pick a side. Regardless, nothing will stop what is coming. God wins – always.
That is perfectly said, your comment posted at 0739am on the 6th. I absolutely, positively feel and think the exact same thing.
I know for myself, I will volunteer to do ballot harvesting since it’s legal here in Vermont. The Democrats did it so I can too, come this November. I recently posted somewhere here on VDC what the numbers boiled down to back in 2020. Ballpark figure is that 178,000 (give or take a few hundred) eligible voters did not vote that election. Imagine if they had their ballot’s harvested by the conservatives or libertarians? What would our legislature look like now? If they had all voted the Republican ticket, Vermont would have voted in Trump. Unknown what the electoral would have done. But that is something, isn’t it? I could be all fouled up in my logic and math and am open to some constructive feedback but…that would be something. We can do it. I know we can.
if someone is paying these elected people to over throw the vermont government///would say this is a crime of bribery or blackmail///check all back grounds of these people///
And just look at Burlington now. What will it take for her to question the marxist narrative?