Tag: criminal justice reform

House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on Criminal Justice Reform in the Judiciary

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division held a remote hearing to discuss issues surrounding Criminal Justice Reform and the Judiciary. The committee chair, Rep. John Lesch (DFL – Saint Paul), sees potential for numerous changes within the courts to better deliver justice and fairness.

“As part of our criminal justice reform work in Minnesota, we must recognize the courts play a significant role in whether or not folks have a real opportunity to turn their lives around, particularly when it comes to having a ladder out of poverty,” Rep. Lesch said. “When people can’t afford to pay a fine or fee for a minor traffic ticket, can’t afford to post bail, have their property unfairly forfeited, or can’t get an offense removed from their record when they’ve demonstrated they’ve turned things around, they find themselves working harder to dig out from a bigger hole. This results in a constant struggle to gain access to employment and housing, which are necessary to sustain themselves in our communities. Many of the ideas on the table are bipartisan in nature and I’ll remain committed to moving them forward. We must hold people who do bad things accountable, but justice for less than all can’t continue to be the status quo.”

The hearing predominantly focused on four subject areas: forfeiture reform, cash bail reform, court fines and fees reform, and record expungement. Support for the reforms discussed spans the political and ideological spectrum, with testimony coming from the likes of Julia Decker, policy director of ACLU-MN as well as from Jason Flohrs, state director of Minnesotans for Prosperity. Continue reading “House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on Criminal Justice Reform in the Judiciary”

Senate Republicans Fail the People of Minnesota

Republican Senators refuse to deliver real criminal justice reform

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Early this morning, Senate Republicans ended Minnesota’s special legislative session without passing the comprehensive police and criminal justice reform bill that recently passed the Minnesota House of Representatives thanks to the hard work of the DFL Party People of Color and Indigenous Caucus.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota DFL Party, released the following statement on the failure of Senate Republicans do work with DFLers to pass criminal justice and policing reform:

“The eyes of the nation are on Minnesota after the tragic murder of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers. Since we cannot give George Floyd back the breath and life that he deserves and was denied, the least we can do is give him justice. It is our responsibility to reform our criminal justice and policing systems in order to end the senseless violence against Black Minnesotans.

“As the state with the only divided legislature in the nation, we had the opportunity to prove that Minnesotans can rise above partisanship and do what’s right for George Floyd, the Black community, and communities of color across our state. Unfortunately, Paul Gazelka and Senate Republicans have abandoned their responsibility to fix our broken policing system and refused to work with DFL Party lawmakers to enact real and meaningful change. By leaving town before the job is done, Senate Republicans shut out the cries for reform emanating from across Minnesota and demonstrated a complete unwillingness to make divided government work.

“It’s not enough any more for Republicans to just be the party that says no to every proposal that comes before them. It’s past time for the Republicans to put real ideas on the table on how to deal with the myriad of issues our state and nation face. Enough is enough – if Republicans can’t be part of ushering in change, then replacing them is the only solution. I strongly encourage Minnesotans frustrated at the lack of any real criminal justice and policing reform to vote Senate Republicans out of office this November.”

Following George Floyd’s killing, Minn. House Public Safety Division discusses criminal justice and police accountability reforms

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today during a public hearing lasting over seven hours, the Minnesota House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Division considered a series of criminal justice and police accountability reforms. The legislation – the Minnesota Police Accountability Act of 2020 – was developed following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer and is aimed at reimagining and reforming public safety in the state.

“While people across the planet have their eyes on Minnesota, our state must seize this opportunity to lead the way by enacting reforms to prevent people of color from losing their lives at the hands of police, the very people charged with serving and protecting our communities,” said Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL – Saint Paul), division chair and chief author of the legislation. “This was a long hearing out of necessity, both because of the number of proposals and the number of voices – from Black, people of color and Indigenous Minnesotans – who are calling on us to fundamentally shift the role of policing in our state to be more community-focused. We must ensure everyone – no matter where they live or what they might look like – can experience true public safety.”

The series of legislation – proposed by the Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus – is contained in three distinct packages. The Reclaiming Community Oversight Act includes the following proposals:

  • Data Practices Modifications for Peace Officers (Her)
    • Retroactive Repeal of Statutes of Limitations (Vang)
    • Warrior Training Prohibited (Richardson)
    • Choke Hold Ban (Moran)
    • Duty to Intercede (Becker-Finn)
    • Police Residency Reform (Hassan)
    • Data Collection and Regulatory Reform/etc. (Mariani)
    • Arbitration Reform (Her)
    • Law Enforcement Oversight Council Reform (Gomez)

The Reforming Accountability Act includes:

  • Use of Force Reform (Moran)
  • Prosecutorial Reform (Becker-Finn)
  • Investigatory Reform (Mariani)
  • Cash Bail (Noor)

Finally, the Re-imagining Public Safety Act:

  • Public Safety Peer Counseling Debriefing (Noor)
    • Police Officer Critical Incident Review (Kunesh-Podein)
    • Community Led Public Safety (Gomez)
    • Mental Health Training (Richardson)
    • Autism Training (Richardson)
    • Restore the Vote (Moran)

Votes on the legislation and consideration of potential amendments to the legislation will be taken up in a public hearing on Monday.

A research memo on the legislation can be accessed here. Introductory remarks from Rep. Mariani and Rep. Rena Moran (DFL – Saint Paul), chair of the POCI Caucus, can be accessed here. Video of the hearing will be available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel and Facebook page. Supporting documents – including bill language – can be found on the division webpage.

 

Model Chrissy Teigen absolutely obliterates Trump after he calls her John Legend’s ‘filthy mouthed wife’

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump lashed out at Chrissy Teigen and John Legend after the couple appeared on an MSNBC town hall on criminal justice — and thousands of other social media users hurled mockery at him.

The president was apparently angered that Teigen and Legend, as well as host Lester Holt, failed to credit him with signing what’s known as the First Step Act, and he attacked the two men by name but failed to tag Teigen — a Twitter celebrity with 11.5 million followers.

View the complete September 9 article by Travis Gettys from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump slams ‘boring’ John Legend, ‘filthy mouthed’ Chrissy Teigen for not crediting his criminal justice reform

Washington Post logoIn a town hall event filmed inside New York’s Sing Sing prison that aired Sunday night, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt dissected the costs of America’s high rates of incarceration. Joined by singer John Legend, Holt asked prisoners about the toll on their families and their ideas for changing the system.

One topic, though, did not come up: the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill signed by President Trump in December. And the White House’s chief media critic noticed.

In a four-tweet flurry sent late Sunday, Trump lashed out at Holt and “boring musician” Legend — while also swiping at Legend’s “filthy mouthed wife,” model and frequent Trump critic Chrissy Teigen — for not giving him personal credit for his efforts.

View the complete September 9 article by Tim Elfrink on The Washington Post website here.