Reforms Announced to Ease Prison Crowding

Senate Judiciary Chair Ron Latz announced a prison population reform package at a press conference in the Minnesota Senate Building on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Highlighting Minnesota’s high rate of incarceration compared to the rest of the nation, he offered recommendations on sentencing, prisons, and mental health and treatment. He also addressed the current controversy over the Appleton prison and cautioned against using incarceration as a means of economic development.

“This [Appleton] is not a short-term option. Anyone who thinks that once you engage in a lease for a prison facility, and you staff up and the local community once again becomes dependent upon the jobs and income in the area, that you can just very easily decide not to renew the lease, or terminate the lease if the demand becomes lower, is fooling themselves. It would become the equivalent of a military base closing.”

Senator Latz’s proposal includes strategies to reduce recidivism among the prison population through investments in mental health, chemical dependency and domestic violence treatment. Latz also advocates for revising Minnesota’s drug possession sentencing guidelines, which are among the toughest nationally.