REP. LIPMAN TO OFFER BILL TO DECREASE PRISON SENTENCES FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

LAKE ELMO - Rep. Eric Lipman hopes state legislators won't "Just Say
No" to a bill he says could save Minnesota $30 million by increasing
the amount of cocaine or methamphetamine an offender must possess in
order to face the state's toughest drug sentences.

Lipman, R-Lake Elmo, and Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL-Minneapolis, are
co-sponsoring the proposed bill, which Lipman said would lessen the
severity of sentences for non-violent drug offenders, and therefore
ease the strain on the state's over-burdened prisons.

The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, in a report released
in mid-January, announced that the number of drug offenders in
Minnesota's correctional facilities had hit an all-time high,
quadrupling in a little more than 20 years - from 810 in 1980, to
3,425 in 2002.

For the first time last year, according to the study, drug offenders
admitted to prison outnumbered those admitted for violent or property
crimes. On average, the prison terms of drug offenders surpass those
of non-drug-related criminals. And those numbers will continue to
grow, Lipman and Ellison contend - unless changes to the sentencing
system are made.

Rep. Lipman spoke live on AM 1500 KSTP yesterday morning to back the
bill.

"The trend line is in the wrong direction," he said of Minnesota's
growing prison population. "A smaller and smaller proportion of the
prison space is being used by violent offenders, and a larger amount
of the resources are being used for non-violent drug offenders."

Today, Minnesota law allows for first-time offenders carrying less
than a half an ounce of cocaine or methamphetamine to be sent to
prison for seven years. Lipman and Ellison's bill would require
possession of almost four times that amount - nearly two ounces of the
drugs - to receive the same sentence.

Compared with other states, Minnesota seems to run its drug policy
with a heavy hand - possessing 10 grams of cocaine or meth can land an
offender behind bars for 30 years here, while in Wisconsin, offenders
caught with the same amount can get only 15; in South Dakota, 10 years
is the maximum sentence for possession of any drug.

Offenders issued maximum drug sentences in Minnesota, Lipman said,
spend as much time behind bars as those judged guilty of kidnapping,
drive-by shootings, armed robbery and manslaughter.

The result, he adds, is those doing the hardest time in Minnesota
prisons are not the state's most hardened criminals.

"These are not people with huge rap sheets, these are people with a
drug problem," he said. "Fully a third of those with the harshest
penalties have no prior record."

Tom Johnson, Executive Director of The Council on Crime and Justice,
an independent non-profit focused on improving the delivery of
criminal and social justice, said the state has come down harder on
drug offenders over the past 15 years, without pausing to evaluate the
effectiveness.

"The public would be much better served by taking those drug offenders
who have not committed violent crimes ... and incarcerating them for a
much shorter time and connecting them with an effective treatment
program," Johnson said this morning. "(Longer incarcerations)
certainly aren't serving the offender or communities that they come
from well."

Looking Ahead

The numbers, in terms of offenders and dollars, will only continue to
grow, the Sentencing Guidelines report.

In 2003, the estimated cost for incarcerating drug offenders reached
$27 million; in less than a decade, it is expected to cost more than
double - $58.2 million - to incarcerate and house the projected
additional 1,742 drug offenders.

Bed space in Minnesota correctional-facilities is already in short
supply. Inmates in MCF-Fairbault, St. Cloud and Stillwater must
double-bunk. Gov. Pawlenty responded to the space crunch with a
proposed $75-million, 700-bed expansion for the Fairbault
medium-security prison.

Simply making more space, Lipman said, does not make
sense.

"I think we have to be mindful and thoughtful about how we use these
resources and whether we're actually getting a good return on our
investment," he said.

If the Legislature passes his proposed bill, the Department of
Corrections could focus more resources on other issues, Lipman said,
including tracking and housing Level-Three sex offenders.
Additionally, he said, there would be less need to double-bunk, a
tactic that some say threatens the safety of prison guards.

Other St. Croix Valley legislators say they are not yet familiar
enough with the proposed bill's specifics to offer support.

"I guess I am going to approach the issue cautiously," said Sen. Brian
LeClair, R-Woodbury. "I'm not yet convinced that the answer is to
lower sentences. I think a component of a global solution has to be
the construction of more prison beds."

Leaders in both parties must work together on the issue, Sen. LeClair
said, and not point political fingers as to who is "soft on crime."

Rep. Rebecca Otto, D-Marine on St. Croix, declined to comment on the
proposed legislation. Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, did not
respond to a request for comment before the Gazette's deadline today.
A staffer in Bachmann's office said the senator is out of the state.