EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

As a former civil rights and public defense attorney for 16 years, I know the value of a good lawyer to protect the rights of all to be free from discrimination and harm. As Attorney General, I will defend women’s rights, keep our immigrant neighbors safe, and protect Minnesota seniors from fraud and abuse.

Defend the Rights of Minnesota Women

As Attorney General, I will be a strong advocate for women’s rights, from health care to the workplace. I will defend access to safe health care choices for Minnesota women. I will crack down on pay discrimination, and hold employers accountable who fail to ensure a safe and respectful workplace for Minnesota women. I will also work to ensure that big corporations and financial interests don’t charge women more simply for being women. All Minnesotans deserve a fair shot and equal treatment in our society.



Protect Seniors from Fraud and Abuse

Minnesota seniors contribute so much to our society. They volunteer in our communities, help drive our nation-leading voter turnout, and often play an important role in child care for working families. That is why it is essential that we protect older Minnesotans from fraud and abuse. Right now, scams frequently target senior citizens, through aggressive and misleading phone calls and internet-based fraud. As the People’s Lawyer, I will hold these fraudsters and scammers accountable. I will also crack down on nursing homes and other senior care facilities that allow harm to come to our seniors through neglect or abuse. Senior citizens and their families shouldn’t have to worry about whether they will be safe in the facilities we trust to care for them.



Defend LGBTQ Rights

From the Trump Administration on down, LGBTQ rights are under attack. I will defend health care access for all, regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexuality, and will ensure the freedom of people to marry who they love is protected. As Attorney General, I will also crack down on discrimination in all its forms, including gender, gender identity and sexual orientation, to ensure equal treatment in the workplace, housing, and throughout our society.



Stand With Our Immigrant Neighbors

Minnesota has a proud immigrant tradition, from those seeking economic opportunity to those fleeing violence abroad. As Attorney General, I will fight efforts by the Trump Administration to remove protections from DREAMers who contribute so much to our economy and society. I will ensure that our immigration detention system is humane, and free from mistreatment, and will prioritize efforts to reunite families who were heartlessly separated at the border. I will stand up to the un-American, discriminatory Muslim Travel Ban. Our country is at its best when we welcome those fleeing horrendous conditions, not when we fan the flames of bigotry and division.



Provide Leadership and Support to Local Governments

County attorneys often look to the Attorney General for resources and assistance when prosecuting complex and high profile cases. As Attorney General, I will ensure that every county attorney has the support and expertise necessary to fairly enforce our criminal laws. This will include particular attention to combating the sex trafficking that is all too prevalent in Minnesota.



Rehabilitation and Community Engagement

Minnesota has a comparatively low prison population, but those numbers are growing, with one of the highest probation and parole rates in the country. These Minnesotans face barriers to education, employment, housing, and political participation that make it harder to complete their sentence and become a productive member of their community. As Attorney General, I will work to reduce incarceration, probation, and parole rates to enhance public safety, while helping people get back on their feet and successfully reintegrate into their communities. I will also ensure that every Minnesotan has equal access to justice, starting with increased support for our public defenders. I will also work to eliminate cash bail laws that prey on the poor and powerless in our system.



Keeping Minnesotans Safe from Gun Violence

Gun violence has disrupted the lives of Minnesotans of all ages and all walks of life across the state. I saw firsthand Washington’s failure to act on public demands to enact common sense gun safety solutions. As Attorney General, I will ensure that Minnesota is a leader in preventing gun violence by fighting for laws that require universal background checks for gun sales, a ban of the sale of assault weapons and large capacity magazines, and by keeping guns out of the hands of people who pose a risk to themselves or to others, including domestic violence offenders. I will also defend Minnesota’s laws by standing with the Attorneys General of 17 other states to fight bad federal legislation that will undermine our ability to establish and enforce our state gun safety measures.



Protecting Our Clean Air and Water

In the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesotans understand the importance of protecting our environment. But Minnesota has already been hit hard by the impacts of climate change, with increasingly frequent floods from Duluth to Waseca. Climate change impacts everyone in our state, including working people, people of color, and seniors. As Attorney General, I will stand up to efforts to undermine the Clean Power Plan, which would improve Minnesotans’ health and our environment by transitioning to clean energy. We don’t have to choose between a robust economy and a clean environment; we can and must have both.

Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Reform

Our society has had decades to assess the impact of criminalizing marijuana use, and the clear result has been extreme racial disparities in its enforcement, higher incarceration rates, and too many lives ruined. It does not make sense to continue diverting taxpayer resources to arrest, prosecute, and detain people for possessing marijuana, when those resources could be used for rehabilitation programs and focusing on dangerous offenders. Like the majority of Minnesotans, I support the legalization of marijuana in Minnesota, and believe we must enact restorative justice for those who have been previously imprisoned for nonviolent offenses related to marijuana.



As your Attorney General, I will fight by your side every day to make health care more affordable and our economy more fair, and to protect the rights and freedoms of all Minnesotans.

