to Mpls. residents.
NEW BILL ATTACKING PUBLIC SAFETY IS BEING VOTED ON IN THE SENATE JUDICIARY
COMMITTEE ON MARCH 26.
Senate bill (S.C.6935) is being voted on by the Senate Judiciary Committee
TOMORROW – on Thursday March 26. This bill duplicates many of the most harmful
provisions in a bill previously proposed by Senator Foley (S.F. 200) and, as a
result, will greatly compromise public safety if enacted. Please contact
Senator Linda Higgins, of Minneapolis, who serves on the committee, to let her
know that you oppose this bill and any other bill that reduces our response to
misdemeanor crime. Her contact information is below.
People have asked why this is a bad bill for public safety. Below are several
reasons:
This bill reduces DWI penalties for chronic DWI offenders. A fourth DWI
offense would no longer be a felony, but a gross misdemeanor. This will make
our roads less safe and send the wrong message to chronic drunk drivers.
This bill reduces all ordinance violations – which include most of our
livability offenses (i.e. many types of trespass, aggressive solicitation,
loitering with intent to commit a crime, lurking, noisy or unruly assembly,
possession of drug paraphernalia in a public place, and many more offenses) –
from misdemeanors to petty misdemeanors, no matter how many times the offender
has previously been convicted.
This bill reduces many statutory misdemeanor violations – including but not
limited to theft, criminal damage to property, receiving stolen copper scrap
metal, driving without insurance, driving without a license, and many more
offenses – from misdemeanors to petty misdemeanors. While this provision only
applies to first-time offenders, officers will have no way of knowing whether
an offender has a prior conviction. Therefore, in reality, these offenses will
be treated as petty misdemeanors no matter how bad the offender’s criminal
record is.
The reduction of these offenses from misdemeanors to petty misdemeanors means:
These offenses will no longer be considered crimes.
Police may no longer arrest offenders who commit these crimes, even if
offenders are likely to continue their criminal behavior if not arrested, and
even if offenders are unlikely to appear in court.
Prosecutors will rarely have a chance to ask the court to restrict an offender
from a geographic area, such as your neighborhood, when they commit one or more
of these offenses, no matter how chronic their behavior. Geographic
restrictions have been an invaluable tool used by judges and prosecutors to
restore neighborhoods targeted by chronic livability offenders.
Prosecutors may no longer collect restitution for victims on any hit and run or
careless driving accident, and on many crimes of theft and criminal damage to
property.
Crime victims will no longer be consulted and will no longer have the
opportunity to provide a victim impact statement when an offender is charged
with one of these crimes.
Judges will no longer be able to place chronic livability offenders on
probation for many offenses.
Judges will issue far fewer arrest warrants for people who commit livability
and other misdemeanor crimes when they ignore their court appearances.
This bill compromises public safety and reduces the ability of police,
prosecutors, and the courts to effectively combat chronic livability offenses
and other misdemeanor crime.
Senator Linda Higgins is the Minneapolis representative on the Senate Judiciary
Committee. She may be reached at <email obscured>. If you have
questions about this bill, contact your local police precinct and ask to speak
with your community attorney.
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