Jim-
I forwarded this e-mail to some of the county
commissioners just as I did the one written by Carol
Pass. As I said in previous posts, I have great
sympathy for what you are going through as I too have
lived in the same kind of "war zone".
I am certainly not making an attempt to speak for R.T.
here but in all fairness to him I truly sense he has
the desire to do something about the problem. It's
hard when the crux of the problem lies with the
judicial system and the Minnesota State Law set by the
legislature.
I have watched now as nearly every branch of the
government has visited one Phillips meeting or another
and politely informed the group about their particular
job. Be it the police commanders, city attorneys,
county attorneys or the judges. At the same meetings
they speak very candidly about the disconnects or
weaknesses in the "system" that allow criminals to
fall through the cracks. The judges tell us "there's
no room in the jails". The Sheriff tells us "there is
plenty of room".
What we know to be real is that the police ARE
arresting the drug dealers and prostitutes. Over and
over and over again. Both the police and the drug
dealers or prostitutes know they will be back out on
the streets within hours. Not because the police want
to let them go, but because they have no other choice.
With $186 booking fees the city has to pay Hennepin
County to put people in jail, we may do better
negotiating a rate with the Hilton or the Hyatt.
Attorneys are overloaded with cases. The amount of
evidence that is required to build a prosecutable case
is often times insurmountable so many cases never make
it to court. Not because the criminal didn't do the
crime, but because there just isn't enough evidence to
prove it "beyond the shadow of a doubt." The ones
that do make it to court often times get plea
bargained down to a lesser crime to keep the case
from going to a trial. For the ones that aren't plea
bargained down, the lawyers negotiate lesser sentences
for their clients. In many cases, the judges don't
impose the maximum sentence allowable by law. In fact
some of them don't even impose the minimum sentence
required by federal sentencing guidelines for felony
offenses.
I was on an elevator in Hennepin County last week and
overheard two men talking about the difference between
being a criminal in Chicago and Minneapolis. In
Chicago, they supposedly don't allow plea bargaining
anymore. You do the crime, you do the time. These two
"gentlemen" moved to Minnesota because "you don't have
to do jail time here."
Channel 4 is doing a news report as I write this
e-mail about the gang turf wars on Lake Street in
Phillips. The good news... (depending on where you
live) is that the rural towns are experiencing an
increase in gang activity while gang activity is
supposedly down in Minneapolis.
And while all this is going on, you, your family and
neighbors are just trying not to get caught in the
cross-fire.
Barb Lickness
Whittier
=====
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
