Each week we're counting down to our Cheers to Liberty event by spotlighting ACLU of South Dakota members and sponsors. We are thrilled to have the support of our 2017 event sponsors Barry Putzke and Jordan Taylor of Bread and Circus Sandwich Kitchen.
Barry and Jordan grew up in Sioux Falls. These longtime friends and business owners tell us why they’re proud to support the ACLU.
After fifteen years in Portland, Oregon, we decided to move back home to Sioux Falls. Having both grown up here, it seemed like the perfect place to open up a restaurant together. It has been great to see how much this city and state has changed, expanded, and become more diverse.
One thing that really surprised us when moving back here from Oregon was how heavily this state still punishes people for low level drug offenses. It just doesn’t make sense to us to waste so many resources going after people, locking them up for years, and ruining their lives because they’ve made a small mistake that never really hurt anybody. It seems like it would better for our community to focus on education and rehabilitation for low-level offenders instead of punishing them so harshly.
As restaurant owners, we are in charge of hiring a staff of people from cooks to servers and dishwashers. A lot of people in my industry can be a little rough around the edges. That’s just who we are. Other businesses might turn away a qualified person when they see a felony on an application. We don’t agree with that. We want Bread and Circus to be a part of a system that believes that people shouldn’t be defined by their mistakes, but instead by their hard work.
We stand with the ACLU because we believe the positions they take are on the right side. They believe in fairness and justice and equality. That’s something we’re willing to put our name behind.
Find Bread and Circus on Facebook and at their website: www.breadandcircussd.com.
