On Friday, April 14, Senate Democrats forced through a Public Safety budget bill that makes thousands of criminals eligible for early release and reduces sentences for violent offenders. This legislation also funnels millions of dollars to untested and unproven nonprofits, and largely ignoring the needs of law enforcement officers, said Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton).
Notable portions of the bill include:
- Allows 92% of the prison population eligible for early release through Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act (MRRA)
- Funding for controversial gun control measures like red flag laws and background checks
- Reduction of the maximum penalty for juveniles tried as an adult from 25 years to as little as 15 years
- $91 million to untested and unproven nonprofit organizations
“The Senate majority’s Public Safety budget continues their ongoing soft-on-crime approach to public safety: putting the criminal before the victim,” Senator Mathews said. “Instead of imposing sufficient consequences for violent crimes, this legislation will make thousands of serious offenders eligible for early release. At the end of the day, I see the Democrats’ legislation as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for criminals. With the surge in violent crime, we should be passing policies that ensure Minnesotans feel safer in their communities. From supporting police officers to holding prosecutors accountable, there a number of common-sense steps we could have taken to address our state’s public safety crisis.”
The bill makes 92% of the prison population eligible for early release through the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act (MRRA). Currently, convicted criminals spend two-thirds of their time in incarceration, and the rest on supervised release; the MRRA reduces the amount of incarceration time to one-half of the sentence. It is applied retroactively and could impact about 7,400 of the approximately 8,000 prisoners in the state.
The MRRA only excludes prisoners with a life sentence but does not specifically exclude specific crimes like manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, assault, or domestic assault, meaning those who were charged, tried by a judge or jury, and convicted of those crimes could be released significantly earlier than their victims were promised. The MRRA does not require victims to have active notification of their perpetrator’s early release, just a passive attempt, meaning they may not know their perpetrator is free before it’s too late.
In addition to the MRRA making thousands of prisoners eligible for early release, the bill also reduces the maximum penalty for juveniles tried as an adult from 25 years to as little as 15 years. Again, acting retroactively, these convicted criminals would be eligible for shorter sentences or early release despite having been certified mature and charged as an adult, convicted by the judicial system, and sentenced by a judge. There are 96 individuals whose cases would qualify, and they were convicted of heinous crimes like murdering their family with an ax, raping a woman while stabbing her with a screwdriver, stabbing a woman 173 times, and killing a 10-month baby. The Minnesota County Attorneys Association has opposed this changebecause of the seriousness of the cases involved.
Lastly, there is very little assistance for law enforcement in the bill. Retirements and the “Defund” movement have made it harder to find qualified law enforcement for open positions. With police departments struggling to fill open positions and colleges struggling to fill classrooms for criminal justice programs, this bill is woefully inadequate to recruit, train, and retain a qualified, professional police force.
Rather than funding law enforcement, the bill funnels $91 million dollar to untested and unproven non-profit organizations. These non-profits can’t arrest criminals and can’t be expected to address violent crimes in their communities. In at least one case, an individual who received grant funding as a community non-profit was arrested for their own violent crimes.