I hear the real attraction is that in Minnesota you can do the crime and you don't have to do the time.
My understanding and it's purely here-say is that Illinois no longer plea bargains. You do the crime, you do the time. Minnesota or at least Hennepin County judges not only allow plea bargaining, they completely abdicate the state sentencing guidelines. Amy Klobachar eluded to it last night in the news and the activists who work on crime issues have known it for a long time. That's why criminal types come here from other states. It's an attractive market to do crime here and has been for several years. This is not a Pawlenty thing. It's been going on since I dealt with it in Whittier in the early 90's. It's not the Mall of America, it's the crack mall and Jordan and East/Midtown Phillips are now the shopping centers. So...quit buying into the media frenzy about how the police aren't arresting people because they are understaffed or whatever. They are arresting plenty of people, plenty of times. The media needs to focus on why the criminals never seem to go to jail. This is not a Minneapolis problem, it is a Hennepin County problem. Minneapolis is just the biggest sufferer. People are going after the wrong politicians and the wrong public servants. Forget the police, the mayor and city council, go after the Hennepin County Commissioners, Hennepin County judges and the State Legislators. They are the real culprits in this mess. I hear from elected officials that there is a capacity problem and from the people running the jails that there are vacant beds every night in the workhouse and that our state prisons are renting cell space to other states. Which is it? I wish someone who has the ability and time to extract real data would get to the bottom of this equation and report it out there for the whole world to see. Are the judges abdicating state sentencing guidelines? Why are they allowed to? Are there holes in our laws dealing with drug enforcement that keep criminals with over 40 or 100 or whatever arrests on the streets? Are the jails full up or aren't they? Are we renting jail space to other states? Maybe it's time to pay more attention to who you elect as a county commissioner, judge or state legislator. 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! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
