Friends and Neighbors, 

Headline Court Case lands in Judiciary 

The issue of voluntary or involuntary intoxication has become a highly contested issue across the state after a Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in State vs. Khalil, that the perpetrator was not guilty since the victim had voluntarily become intoxicated.  As a result, the perpetrator was released without a conviction of rape or sexual assault. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was eager to address this issue during a special committee hearing last week. The recommendations for changes to the law are a result of two years of work by a legislative task force and the ruling of the court. 

Currently, there are two categories: involuntary and voluntary intoxication regarding rape or sexual assault. Involuntary is when someone has been drugged against their will.  Voluntary is when someone has had too much to drink and is voluntarily intoxicated.  With the ever-changing and fast dissolving drugs, it is hard to track these substances as they dissipate so quickly from the bloodstream. Often someone may be voluntarily intoxicated, but a perpetrator takes advantage of this situation to also drug the victim.  However, this often makes it difficult to prove and if the victim is already voluntarily intoxicated.  Many perpetrators understand this and know they have a high probability of getting away with the crime.  The change in the law makes it so that if someone is voluntarily intoxicated it is still illegal to take advantage of their vulnerability and assault that person. Intoxication is not a license to rape or sexually assault anyone.  Due process for both the alleged victim and perpetrator are included in the statute.

The judiciary committee passed this change language, which says that voluntary intoxication of a substance or substances to the degree to which consent is not able to be given, will now be a crime. Now it will be on to a future conference committee and hoped for signature by the Governor. 

The Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government Forum 

This past week I had the opportunity to participate in a forum at The Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government entitled “The U.S. Census: Its Impact on Legislative Redistricting and Congressional Reapportionment” alongside my House State Government Committee Chairman counterpart, democrat Representative Mike Nelson.   

Together, Representative M. Nelson and I, addressed redistricting history, court cases, process, status, gave examples with maps along with telling some redistricting stories of interest. I told the story of a former MN State Representative in Becker whose home was divided into two different house districts. When the representative asked the Secretary of State which district he lived in, he was told to pick a bedroom and whichever he chose was his “primary residence” and depending on which side of the line was the district he lived in. Representative M. Nelson told a story of how he was elected in a Special Election in one district and the day after the special election concluded, redistricting took effect, and he ran in a new district for the next general election.  

Redistricting starts with the census. The census was completed in 2020 however, the Census Bureau is not yet releasing the data, without that data redistricting cannot begin. 

The census is extremely important historically. The United States was the first country to conduct the census for the purpose of accurate representation in government, prior it was done for taxation or military conscription. The most notable census was during Jesus’s birth, which is why he was born in Bethlehem because Mary and Joseph had to travel home for the census.  

Currently, since the census is not yet released, we cannot initiate redistricting. The Census Bureau has stated it will be late August/early September before we get the data, until then our hands are tied. I anticipate the legislature having a Special Session when the data is released, focused on redistricting, stay tuned for further action.

Contact Me 

I remain committed to fighting for your needs at the Capitol in any way I can. I am always available to talk and encourage you to reach out to my office with your questions, comments, and concerns. My phone number is 651-295-5655 or you can email me at Sen.Mary.Kiffmeyer@senate.mn

Sincerely,
Mary