I’m running for office because of a goldfish. It was one of my very first cases coming out of law school, and I was serving as a public defender. One day, I found myself in court with my client, who was holding a one-gallon Crystal Geyser jug with a shiny orange goldfish swimming in it. People were staring.
The man in court with me stood in sharp contrast to when I first met him in a holding cell. He was now clean and smelled of aftershave, and he was wearing a collared shirt. When we’d spoken in the holding cell after his arrest, he was very different. He told me that his life was falling apart, he had lost his job, his girlfriend, and he was about to be evicted from his apartment. He confided in me that he knew he had a problem but he needed help.
We talked some more, and I told him that I didn’t believe the judge would release him. Then he said, “I have a goldfish at home that I need to care for.” I told him I thought the judge would laugh at me if I made that argument. He begged me to do it anyway…