Bluestem Prairie

Cornish's shares gallows humor with DFL colleagues via publically-funded email system

Scrolling through my Facebook wall late yesterday afternoon, I noticed this post by a state representative:

During our extended floor session, Rep. Cornish sends photo to all DFL representatives with subject: Crime Bill on My Desk. It contains only a photo of a gallows with two empty nooses.

Yet another way to fostering the bipartisanship the public so desires, as well as promoting public confidence in the institution as well on Cornish's part.

I messaged the House member to see if I could have the email forwarded; a screen shot is at right. What a kidder, that Tony Cornish.

Cornish chairs the Minnesota House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance committee. That's might clever of him to send that photo to his Democratic colleagues.  What a kidder.

Given the symbolic meanings that gather around nooses these days, meanings differing by race, age and other factors, perhaps one might have wished that the chair of the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee might have been mature enough to control his wit for a moment, or at least reflected on the possibility that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle might not all share his taste in rick-rolling emails.

It's not as if he's just a poor country blogger or something. He's actually a poor country chief of police. UPDATE: Reader T.Pa Or Coffee notes: "By the way, Cornish is no longer a police chief. He resigned so that he could do a better job as a legislator."  Point taken. [end update].

But there's something else that might have given him pause if he grasped a larger sense of history: the role hanging played in Minnesota's decision to end the death penalty. In 2008, the Star Tribune's Brian Leehan reviewed that story in Botched hanging led state to halt executions:

A small item in the Wednesday Feb. 7, 1906 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune reads, "Sheriff Miesen has arranged to test the rope and gallows upon which William Williams is to be executed next Tuesday at midnight."

Ramsey County Sheriff Anton Miesen's test seems to have been successful, but it didn't keep the execution of Williams at 12:31 a.m. on Feb. 13, 1906, from being a hideously botched affair that resulted in him being the last person executed in Minnesota.

Double murderer William Williams was certainly guilty of killing his former lover (a teenager) and the lover's mother, but his death was cruel, if not usual:

Sheriff Miesen was confident of his rope's strength, and the proper functioning of the trapdoor of his gallows, but his math was faulty in calculating both the height of Williams and the gallows platform.

As the condemned man dropped, his feet hit the floor.

A lurid description in the next day's issue of the St. Paul Daily News said that William's "neck stretched four and one-half inches and the rope nearly eight inches."

So deputies quickly grabbed the rope and pulled it upward, then took turns holding Williams' feet off the ground for almost 15 minutes while the life was choked out of him.

The death certificate stated that the cause of death was strangulation.

The debacle, and the newspaper coverage of it, gave ammunition to those in the state Legislature who opposed the death penalty.

House member George MacKenzie, R-Gaylord, had tried to abolish capital punishment in Minnesota in 1905 and again in 1909. He succeeded in 1911 when Republican Gov. Adolph Eberhart signed the legislation into law.

But Bluestem suspects Cornish didn't have that in his mind--or much else--when he decided to send the "Crime Bill on My Desk" email to colleagues while they were meeting in chamber. Perhaps he should just stick to the little handcuffs pin he loves to wear.

The photo can be found on Cornish's Facebook page in an album called "Arizona Trip 2012" that documents a short stay in Tombstone. The caption below the photo there? "The Only Sure Cure for Repeat Offenders."  Stay classy, Representative Cornish.

Screenshots: The gallows humor of Tony Cornish.

Related posts: Cornish denies rumors he's running for Blue Earth County Sheriff day after spreading them

Tony Cornish likes opponent, but freaks over her totally rad liberal Facebook ties to a Democrat

 Civility and its discontents: Tony Cornish is an honorable man (just agree with him)

Former Wells Mayor Shannon Savick seeks to challenge Representative Tony Cornish

Mankato Free Press: Blue Earth County to drop charges against Jeremy Giefer in sexual assault case

Sources in Blue Earth County had suggested that this was in the works, and now the Mankato Free Press reports that it is so in Prosecutors plan to dismiss charges against Giefer:

Victim who claimed she was sexually assaulted changes story

Citing a recent conversation he had with his key witness, Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Mike Hanson confirmed that he is planning to dismiss felony sexual assault charges filed against Jeremy Giefer in November 2010.

"Based upon what we learned at that meeting, we don't have the evidence we need to move forward with trial," Hanson said.

The Free Press first looked at the changes in the witness's story last week in Conflicting statements a concern in Giefer sexual assault trial:

The new statement, which was acquired by Giefer’s attorney, Mark Kelly, was recently provided to Hanson because Kelly plans to use it as evidence during the trial.

“The nature and content of the statement may make us ask for more time beyond the trial date,” Hanson said.

The alleged victim, who is now an adult, was 16 years old when she told a mandated reporter Giefer had been sexually abusing her since she was 9 years old. She described situations, dating back to when she was 13 years old, where she was coerced into sexual situations by Giefer.

A later statement that the same teen provided to Giefer’s attorney was discussed during a pre-trial hearing Monday. Kelly and Hanson didn’t discuss details, but Kelly did say the alleged victim recanted what she said when she was interviewed by Blue Earth County sheriff’s investigators. . . .

. . .If the woman’s testimony is consistent with the statement she provided to Kelly, the statements to deputies would lose credibility, Kelly said. He did not file a motion Monday to have the charges dismissed due to the new statement.

The case drew national attention after Bluestem first broke the story about Giefer's earlier pardon for a sex offense; he is now married to his victim in that first case.

 

Cornish denies rumors he's running for Blue Earth County Sheriff day after spreading them

Bluestem admires rural conservatives for their consistency and allegiance to principle, if not truth.

Take State Representative Tony Cornish, who has been putting in a cameo appearance as Chief of Police of sunny Lake Crystal for the past four years. As part of yesterday's evening news, KEYC-TV reported in Rep. Cornish Retires from Police Chief Position:

State Rep. Tony Cornish has announced he's retiring his post as an area police chief. . . .

Cornish says he's not running for Blue Earth County Sheriff as rumors have suggested. He says he's looking forward to more free time for hunting.

And those pesky rumors plaguing Tony? Wherever do the good citizens of Blue Earth County come up with this stuff?

It's certainly not from the mouth of babes.

Nope, these gems of wisdom dripped from the dewy lips of Representative Cornish himself, who told KEYC-TV that his career in law enforcement was "getting a little long in the tooth." (His self portrait, not Bluestem's choice.)

The day before the KEYC-TV story, Mankato Free Press political reporter Mark Fischenich reported in Cornish to resign as Lake Crystal police chief:

“I haven’t ruled out running for sheriff,” said Cornish, who has served in a variety of law enforcement jobs over 37 years. “That would be two years down the road.”

Cornish mulled a 2010 run for Blue Earth County sheriff but ultimately chose to seek re-election to the state House when incumbent Sheriff Brad Peterson decided to seek a fifth term. Cornish, 60, said he will consider running only if Peterson opts not to seek re-election.

“I wouldn’t run against Brad,” he said. “... I think he’s going to retire.”

Being a thorough reporter, Fischenich contacted the younger man to see if he planned to step aside as sheriff and let Corish indulge his Richard Stanek fantasies. But Cornish's rumor was news to the current Sheriff of Blue Earth County:

“It looks more like I would be running than not,” said Peterson, who hasn’t faced a challenger since toppling Sheriff LaRoy Wiebold in 1994. “... I still enjoy my job. I still enjoy going to work and working with the people.”

There’s a practical reason to seek another term, as well, he said. Although his 33 years in law enforcement qualifies him for a full pension, Peterson is just 55 years old and won’t qualify for Medicare for another decade.

The current cost of continuing his county health care coverage out-of-pocket would be approximately $25,000 annually.

“So that’s over $200,000 over 10 years,” he said. “I don’t think I can afford that.”

Fischenich reports that Cornish already retired from law enforcement in 2003, after a long career as a crappie cop for the DNR, and that provides for Cornish's living expenses once he retires again. And presumably, he's also racking up another nest egg via those per diem payments that are counted toward his legislative pension.

It's generous of him to now deny those rumors of a bid for sheriff, and Bluestem hopes that Cornish has a way to pay for his health insurance.

One more thing. A reader observes that Cornish came right out in the Mankato Free Press article and said:

“Just too busy,” Cornish said in explaining his decision [to retire as police chief]. “Not able to do justice to two jobs.”

Not that Minnesota has a fulltime legislature, but then, Cornish does head a committee. Reasonable people might wonder how he could be sheriff of a large rural county, put in a full day's work, and still find time to hunt. 

Fortunately, Cornish has now denied the rumors he started, and the citizens of Blue Earth County can sleep soundly at night.

Photo: Representative Tony Cornish. His tiny handcuffs strike fear into the hearts of elves everywhere.

Immigrants for Sale: Will Appleton's shuttered private prison open in human trafficking scheme?

Yesterday at the Minnesota Independent, editor Jon Collins broke the news that the Corrections Corporation of America's private prison in Appleton, shuttered for want of business from the state of Minnesota, may reopen.

In Private prison company’s growth went hand-in-hand with political influence, Collins reports:

It’s been almost two years since the privately-run prison in Appleton has held prisoners. But in early 2012, the prison’s owner, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), expects to fill Appleton’s Prairie Correctional Facility and another facility in Colorado with 3,256 inmates from California.

In the last ten years, the revenue of CCA, the country’s biggest private prison company, has almost doubled, according to their annual reports. Critics say that CCA’s success, and even the likely reopening of the prison in Appleton, stems from their use of lobbying and campaign donations to push through tougher crime laws and increase detainment of illegal immigrants.

“Prison privatization contracts are designed by policy makers. It’s important for these companies to have a political strategy to increase their market share,” Paul Ashton, author of a recent report on private prisons for the Justice Policy Institute, said in a conference call Wednesday. Private prison companies “game the system,” he said, by pushing to increase market share, which in the private prison business means putting more people in prison.

The Appleton facility is in DFLer Andrew Falk's House district and Gary Kubly's Senate District. When the state began transferring inmates from the private Prairie Correctional Facility to the less-costly public facility in Faribault, the Morris Sun reported that both legislators went to bat for the jobs the corporation provided:

“Devastating’’ is how Appleton Mayor Ron Ronning, himself an employee of the private prison, described the consequences to his community should the facility be closed or mothballed. The mayor was among well over 120 people, most of them employees of the facility, who packed the Appleton Civic Center on Friday morning for a town meeting hosted by State Sen. Gary Kubly, DFL-Granite Falls, and State Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock.

Mayor Ronning said he feared that Appleton and the surrounding rural area could see a major exodus of jobs and suffer the economic strife that gripped it during the farm crisis of the 1980s, when businesses shuttered their windows and homes were left vacant.

The 1,600-bed Appleton facility is currently housing 542 inmates from Minnesota and another 525 from the state of Washington, according to Tim Wengler, its warden. The state of Washington has been slowly reducing its number of inmates.

So what's the problem with re-opening the prison and putting people in Appleton back to work? Back to the Collins' report. Go read about the influence of private money on public justice. And there's also this:

One thousand seven hundred fifty miles from L.A. to Appleton
CCA and other private prison companies are doing very well. In 2010, CCA saw total revenue of $1.67 billion, according to CCA’s annual report. But there is a human cost to the industry too.

Amy Gottlieb of the American Friends Service Committee told the Minnesota Independent that prisoners transferred to other states often face both emotional and legal hurdles.

“Ultimately, we have thousands and thousands and thousands of people around the country who are being locked up, held away from their families, in the immigration context are often unrepresented by council,” Gottlieb said. “People are profiting off of that.”

According to CCA’s website, one of the benefits of out-of-state inmate management is that the company will “[a]dhere to state-specific policies and procedures, as well as hundreds of standards set by the American Correctional Association and our company.”

But the fact that prisoners, including detained immigrants in some federal facilities, are being held in the less accountable private facilities is of concern to advocates like Gottlieb.

“We have seen over and over again that the private prison lobby is extremely powerful and they have deep connections to a lot of politicians and get a lot of federal contracts,” Gottlieb said. “That creates very serious concerns when what we are really talking about here are human rights and human rights violations.”

The Cuentame community told the story via the powerful video, "Immigrants for Sale":

I've praised both Kubly and Falk in the past on Bluestem, but won't hesitate to cry foul if either cheers this development by CCA.  Opening the prison for detainees would only feed the human supply chain for private profit that was at the core of SB1070--and copycat bills like ALEC zombie legislator Steve Drazkowski's own HB3830.

Rural Minnesota needs jobs, but profiting from human trafficking isn't the way to do it.

Update: Roy Pratt at City Pages reports Prairie Correctional Facility, private prison, not re-opening soon, says Rep. Andrew Falk.

Note: Currently in Minnesota, ICE detainees are held in county jails that the Department of Homeland Security contracts with for detention services.

Image: via Cuentame.

Making bacon: Hormel workers secure raises, higher retirement benefits, better health care

One shibboleth shared by conservative legislators (and the corporations that enable them) in attacks against the middle class is that wages and benefits must be gouged in order for American businesses to remain competitive in a global marketplace.

They then leverage that talking point in attacks on public sector unions--and in class warfare like the lockout American Crystal Sugar is conducting against union workers in the Red River Valley and elsewhere. 

An item in last week's Austin Herald, Hormel union OKs contract, suggests that wet blanket isn't being thrown everywhere on the American Dream:

United Food and Commercial Workers Union members at Hormel Foods Corp. voted to accept new four-year contracts for about 4,000 workers in Austin; Algona, Iowa; Fremont, Neb.; Beloit, Wis., and Atlanta, Ga.

The new collective bargaining deal will mean a base wage increase of $1.50, improvements in health care, improved retirement security and a pension increase.

“The strong contract that we secured with Hormel is a pretty big deal,” said Dick Schuster, a Hormel employee in Fremont, Neb. for 38 years, in a news release. “At a time when pensions are under attack nationwide, we were able to bargain for significant improvements to our retirement security. Our contract is a testament to why sticking together and speaking with one voice benefits all workers.” . . .

. . .“Our communities need good jobs with pay and benefits that can support a family,” said Vincent Perry, a four-year veteran at the Hormel plant in Algona, Iowa, in a news release. “Good union contracts like ours help build more stable and secure communities.”

Not all news coming from the livestock industry is good for rural communities. In an unrelated item, hog rustlers have been stealing pigs from barns in Southern Minnesota and Iowa. Higher hogs prices have made stealing truck loads of market-ready hogs worth the risk. The Des Moines Register reports in Pig thieves are getting 'greedier and more gutsy' in north Iowa, farmer says:

.. .Officials in both states so far are unsure where the hot hogs are being sold and say it's possible they're being trucked out of Iowa or Minnesota.

“It would take a well-organized operation to transport this many animals,” said Marc Chadderdon, an investigator with the Nicollet County sheriff’s office in St. Peter, Minn. “I think they go out and they’re doing their recon ahead of time, and they’re picking these barns for reasons.”

Reed Kuper figures there could be a ring of 10 to 20 thieves involved. He’d love to gather all of them in a room for questioning and play them against each other.

“Then everybody’s going to start squealing,” he said.

Photo: Oink! Union workers are bringing home the bacon for their communities, while hog rustlers are stealing it from farmers.

A little more than a hiccup: Carver County GOP chair resigns following criminal-sex charges

Via the Brick City blog, the Chanhassen Villager, Fox News 9 and the City Pages the Carver County Republican BPOU is making headlines again.

Bluestem readers may remember that the basic party operating unit attracted attention in August when it sent invitations to registered lobbyists for an auction of time with Republican lawmakers to the highest bidders.

City Pages' resident honey badger Gregory Pratt reports in Paul Zunker, Carver County Republican chairman, charged for molesting minor:

Zunker has allegedly been molesting his victim since last August. The victim, who is under 16, would tell him to "knock it off" and "stop," which he would only do briefly before starting again, according to a complaint from the Carver County Attorney's Office. Zunker would allegedly touch the victim's chest against her wishes and when she asked him to stop, Zunker "laughed," according to the complaint.

The Carver County Sheriff's Office and child protection workers learned of the sexual abuse this August and began investigating it. Confronted by a child protection worker, Zunker confessed to molesting her "at least one time per week."

Asked to explain his actions, Zunker allegedly told them that he did it "because it made him feel good."

Lovely. The Villager reports that local Republicans are surprised and view the development as "a little more than a hiccup" for their organization:

Members of the Carver County Republican Party are scheduled to meet Thursday to select a new chair.

Several members of the party’s executive committee were caught off-guard by the allegations.

Rolland Neve, a member of the executive committee from Chanhassen, said he had heard that Zunker was stepping down because of work pressures.

“Holy smokes. I was shocked,” Neve said when he heard about the criminal charges on Tuesday.

Bruce Schwichtenberg, of Carver, said he was frustrated after learning details.

“I feel sorry for this person who is part of it,” he said. “It’s sad.”

Schwichtenberg said he didn’t vote for Zunker when he ran for the position of party chair and said Zunker had a limited history with the party when he was chosen as chair.

“It’s a situation where we have to move on because we have elections coming up in a year,” Schwichtenberg said. “It’s obviously a little more than a hiccup. But I’m hoping people don’t stay away and not be involved.”

Read the rest at Republican Party chair faces criminal sex charges steps down from post.

At the Brick City blog, Sean Olsen observes:

Rumors about Zunker had been circulating for several days, as his normally active Twitter feed had gone silent, his Facebook page had been scrubbed, and his LinkedIn profile had disappeared.  Zunker had been considered by some insiders to be one of the more promising folks on the Carver County GOP bench, with considerations for him potentially being a candidate for a county commissioner post or a legislative run down the road.  The Carver County GOP will elect a new chair at their BPOU meeting on Thursday.

If found guilty of both counts, Zunker could face a sentence of 90 months in jail. Zunker’s next court appearance is scheduled for September 16.

According to Fox News 9, Zunker descibed himself on his twitter account as:

“a Christian, husband, Dad, small business owner, Conservative, MNGOP State Central Committee member and Chair of the Republican Party of Carver County.”

Looks like he might be able to add "job creator"--at a local house of correction--to that list.

Photo: A candid shot of Tom Emmer (left) and Zunker (right) from the Carver County Republicans' Facebook page.  Zunker began molesting the victim in August 2010.

Related posts: Cravaack goes public in Duluth, quake strikes East Coast, Republicans admit golf is boring

Carver County GOP tells City Pages it so wasn't auctioning anything at online legislator auction

Promises, promises: Ernie Leidiger exchanges votes for next year's conservative slant

Goatroping girls hit Mankato's Sibley Park Zoo

Usually the Mankato Free Press's courthouse/police beat reporter Dan Nienaber brings readers the goods on the likes of Jeremy Giefer or Jennifer Nibbe. Yesterday, a report came up about the rash of prepubescent goat roping in Mankato.

It's not Bluestem's usual political turf, but the story's irresistible. Nienaber reports in Girls get caught for late-night goat walk:

A couple of young rustlers attempted to use their imagination to escape the long arm of the law Saturday, but after about an hour of story telling they eventually learned they’d made a baaaaad decision.

A Mankato resident called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to report two very young girls, who turned out to be under the age of 10, were walking along Carney Avenue north of Riverfront Drive. They were in their pajamas and had a goat with them, the caller said.

When an officer arrived, the girls were walking south and had crossed Riverfront Drive.

They told the officer the goat belonged to them and they were just taking the animal for a late-night walk.

As the kid questioning continued, the girls kept stretching their tale.

The goat lives in their bedroom closet, they said. Mom bought it a couple weeks ago, but dad didn’t know about it. So they had to keep the goat thing quiet to keep dad from suspecting anything.

They also told the officer they’d been sneaking their pet out regularly for nightly walks.

That's the ticket. Apparently the girls had been at a birthday at the small municipal zoo earlier in the day and had made acquaintance with the goat, then planned to spring the critter from the enclosure. Judging from the account of the goat yard posted at the blog, A Pickle and A Pear, those are some awfully charismatic goats.

The girls' parents had realized they were missing, but had not yet called the police when the rustlers were apprehended. 

No one can say the spirit of Betsy, Tacy and Tib isn't alive and well in Deep Valley. For the rest of the really baaaaaa-d punning, read the entire story at the Free Press.

Photo: Was this the goat liberated from the Sibley Park Zoo? via A Pickle and A Pear.

It's a post-Pawlenty world: court schedules December 19 Jeremy Giefer trial date

Scuttlebutt in rural Blue Earth County had it that sexual assault and incest charges against Jeremy Giefer would be dropped at a pretrial hearing yesterday.

That didn't happen. District Court Judge Bradley Walker set a December 19 trial date for the high-profile case, the Mankato Free Press reports in Trial date set for Giefer sex assault case.

Staff writer Dan Nienaber notes the courtroom scuffling between Giefer's attorney and the assistant county attorney over the findings from DNA samples taken from the victim's bedroom. Check it out in the MFP.

Giefer was arrested on the charges last November. After Bluestem broke the news of Giefer's 2008 pardon from an earlier sex offense, the case gained wide attention. Nienaber reports:

Giefer’s arrest after the allegations were made in November drew statewide attention. He had received a pardon from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2008 for a 1996 sexual assault conviction. In that case he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl when he was 19 years old. He requested a pardon for employment reasons, pointing out he is now married to the victim.

Giefer is facing additional charges for allegedly violating an order to have no contact with the victim.

With Pawlenty's withdrawal from the presidential race, it's unlikely that the case will attract much interest, however lurid the details that emerge next December may be.

Photo: The Giefers.

Related posts: Pardoned by Pawlenty board in 2008, sex offender hit with criminal sex, incest charges

Star Tribune picks up Giefer pardon story, drops ball by forgetting Sjodin tragedy

The Pawlenty pardon update: blog roundup; Giefer back in court

Pawlenty pardon update: incidents in the life of Jeremy Giefer in 2008

City Pages update: Giefer in court, more pre-pardon details emerge

UPDATED! Jeremy Giefer hires private criminal law attorney; judge orders DNA test

It's a ploy! MNGOP chair Tony Sutton joins in Scott Hennen's public rest stop rant

After listening to a podcast where conservative talk radio personality Scott Hennen and failed burrito baron and MNGOP chair Tony Sutton agree about the politics of cleaning bathrooms, I had to hope Sutton had never been allowed to determine janitorial standards when he was CEO at the Baja Sol restaurants.

On July 5, Fargo-area conservative talk radio personality Scott Hennen ranted about the closing of Minnesota's rest stops as part of a ploy on the part of Leftists to grow government--and MNGOP Chair Tony Sutton agreed with him at the beginning of the interview. Full podcast here.

Bluestem had to laugh, since the Pawlenty Administration closed the rest stops when the government shutdown in 2005 under TPaw's watch as well. And frankly, we don't think bathrooms clean themselves or public health issues created by an absence of janitors are anything to take lightly. Both governors' administrations were using sound judgement in closing the rest stops.

The bigger question though: What's Sutton doing hanging around with this ranter at a time when citizens are asking for some real common sense, not just a club brand?

 

Trees and branches block Luce Line Trail after Minnesota's July 1 "shutdown storm"

A line of storms that whipped up violent straight-line winds across much of Southern and Central Minnesota hit Hutchinson's city forest hard Friday night.

By yesterday afternoon, most of the debris had been removed from city streets and the Luce Line Trail in town. Once joggers and bicyclists using the trail reach city limits, it's a different story.

West of Hutchinson, the state trail was blocked by toppled branches and trees.

The Hutchinson Leader reported in Storm blows through Hutchinson Friday night city helping with tree damage clean up:

High winds in Hutchinson Friday night downed many trees, broke off thousands of branches, tipped a semi-truck over along State Highway 15 north of the city and rip much of the roof off of the Hutchinson Animal Hospital at the corner of State Highway 7 West and California Street.

City workers will be helping residents with the extensive clean-up, Mayor Steve Cook told the Leader Friday night. Residents may place downed branches and limbs in the boulevard along the street (not in the street) and crews will begin picking them up Tuesday.

I live in the northwest part of town, not far from that corner, and biked down to the community gardens to check my plot after the early evening storm passed. It was tough going on the Luce Line Trail in town, since dozens of large branches covered the trail. I saw quite a few trees down as well.

Yesterday, the trail was cleared--until I reached the edge of town, curious to see how the shutdown might affect the hundreds of people who jog, dog-walk and bike the path. I didn't get far, since just west of town, branches and trees had fallen across the trail. While I was snapping photos, one muscular runner with a Marine buzzcut and smile roughed it, picking his way through the obstacle course. No one else tried.

No saying when storm damage on other state parks and recreation areas will be cleaned up. Before the storm on Friday, the Marshall Independent reported in Area state parks: open … but not:

Camden State Park closed down on Thursday in anticipation of a state government shutdown, but will still be available for day use this Fourth of July weekend. . . .

If the shutdown continues throughout the weekend, day use will be permitted until 9 p.m. but law enforcement personnel will enforce closing hour.

"Day use is OK, but you can't rent anything and you'll have to hike in," Dinesen said. . . .

The storm damage changed all that in the area an hour and a half southwest of Hutchinson. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported yesterday in DNR: Fallen trees make Camden, St. Croix parks unsafe:

Minnesota wardens are urging residents to stay out of two state parks that sustained severe tree damage in a recent thunderstorm.

Chris Niskanen of the state Department of Natural Resources said it's unsafe to enter Camden State Park and St. Croix State Park. He said hundreds of trees were toppled in Friday's storm, leaving roads impassable and other trees unstable.

He said the parks were closed anyway because of the state government's shutdown. But he said it's extra-urgent to stay out because of safety issues.

Niskanen said once the shutdown ends, it could take several days before crews can clean the damage and reopen the parks.

The trail and parks have me wondering: how would greater Minnesota cities' budgets been affected by the cost of the storm clean-up had LGA payments not been deemed essential by the court?  As Bluestem posted in A win in an ugly war: LGA payments deemed essential to cities and counties:

That's a victory of sorts, the Marshall Independent reports in LGA call a win for cities, counties:

Cities and counties across the state of Minnesota won a battle in the midst of an ugly war this week when Ramsey County District Court Judge Kathleen Gearin ordered that Local Government Aid must be paid regardless of a government shutdown.

While Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and top Republican lawmakers continued their clandestine-like negotiations Thursday to come to terms over the state's $5 billion deficit, cities and counties breathed a little sigh of relief over Gearin's decision.

"We certainly welcome the court's decision," Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said. "Most people agree that it makes sense. The intent of Local Government Aid is to be sure that basic essential services are provided in communities." . .

On Friday night, I heard fire trucks and other emergency vehicles  at least  a half a dozen times. Good to know they were running. Now, who will clear the trails outside of town for runners and bicyclists?

Photo: Luce Line Trail west of Hutchinson on Saturday. City crews had clean the trail inside city limits.

Tales of Hoffman: Kvetchin' Gretchen tells local paper about nature of threats at state capitol

In today's Fergus Falls  Daily Journal, state senator Gretchen Hoffman talks about the threats made to her, which included visitors to her office trying to get her home address.

Perhaps they should have simply visited her official state senate web page, where her home address is listed, rather than her office. The webpage includes a notation that the senator "Prefers interim mail at this address."

Surely, in light of her perception of requests for her home address as threats, that information will be removed from her official web page as soon as possible.

Indeed, one wonders why this security flaw has been allowed to remain on Hoffman's page at all, since her supporters first began talking months ago about threats made to her. The Daily Journal interview marks the first time that Hoffman herself has spoken about the matter that I am able to locate.

In Hoffman reflects on first six months, the yarn peddler shares the deets as she sees them:

However, Hoffman was surprised by another group of political activists: protesters to the GOP agenda who she said used intimidation and dishonesty to try to influence lawmakers.

“There were a couple of threats we had to turn into the sergeant (-at-arm’s) office – one was an e-mail threat and one was some intimidation,” she said. She also once went to a meeting in which most of the attendees claimed to be her constituents but weren’t; the result included angry chanting and people demanding her address. It got so bad, she said, that she felt the need to call her husband at their Vergas home to warn him that people were trying to find out where she lived.[emphasis added]

Undoubtedly, Hoffman met with the least google-savvy group of protestors to ever visit the capitol, as they were not able to find her listing on the senate's website. Given that, as early as April, she found requests for her address threatening, it's also surprising that she hasn't asked that the home address be removed from the page, along with the request that mail be sent to this address when the legislature is out of session.

Perhaps Hoffman did, but the change has not been made.

Indeed, Bluestem thinks that any threat to a lawmaker and her family is so unacceptable that I hope the press corps in St. Paul and the Fergus Falls Daily Journal both dig in to find out why this information remains on the page.

The article continues:

But, Hoffman remarked, “I don’t need to run around and play a victim. I felt safe there. The sergeant’s office was very good about making us feel safe.” However, she added, she regrets that capitol reporters never saw a news story in her getting an armed escort. The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms could not be reached for comment.[emphasis added]

Last week, Bluestem --though not part of the capitol press corps--undertook such an investigation. However, neither the person I spoke to at the sergeant-of-arms' phone number, nor John Mock of the state patrol, to whom I was referred by the sergeant-of-arms' office. I retain records that the calls took place.

Hoffman's statement raises a number of questions. Do any members of the capitol press corps recall being contacted about these threats, and being pitched story ideas based on them? What group arranged for a constituent meeting, but packed that meeting with people who live outside of her district who are not able to google--but who can chant? Where and when did the meeting take place? Can the sergeant-at-arms' office produce the email that threatened Hoffman?

As I mentioned, Bluestem looked into this matter last week, and the information I received from two offices at the capitol concerned with security does not reconcile with what Hoffman told her local paper. Bluestem wrote up its  investigation in Tales of Hoffman: Inquiry finds no evidence for supporters' claims of capitol "police escorts."  From that post:

Given the seriousness of the letter writers' claims--and Adams' request that the Fergus Falls Daily Journal begin advocating for Hoffman's protection, Bluestem started asking the specific question: Has Senator Gretchen Hoffman needed a police escort inside the Minnesota State Capitol because she has received threats?

My first call was to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms office. The person who answered the phone hadn't heard of any threats to Senator Hoffman, but noted that "Capitol Security" would be in charge of investigating any threats to senators, as well as providing any "police" escort inside the building. I was directed to call John Mock at Capitol Security.

Returning my call later yesterday afternoon, Mock said that no state patrol officers had been assigned to escort Senator Hoffman during the session, and his office had no record of any death threats to Hoffman that had been reported to Capitol Security.  However, he added that this is not a definitive answer.

He noted that while people often refer--as the letter writers did-- to "capitol police," this phrase is a misnomer. Two state patrol officers are assigned to Capitol Security, although their numbers are often supplemented as security needs change (say, when large rallies are planned).

The uniformed state patrol officers on duty are assisted by uniformed civilian security officers, who are employees of the state patrol, Mock explained. The  uniformed civilian security officers are the men and women at the state capitol who wear blue uniforms.

Finally, a third group assists with securing the capitol, non-uniformed civilian security personnel. This final group is largely composed of retired law enforcement officers. They wear maroon blazers, khaki slacks, and badges (not shields) that identify them.

Mock thought that it was possible that Hoffman might have asked for an escort from any of these levels, although his office has no record of such a request and no state patrol officers were assigned to protect her.

He noted that anyone at the capitol complex--including any visitor--can ask for an escort if he or she feels the need for one; one doesn't have to be a state employee or legislator working at the state capitol to receive assistance from Capitol Security. This policy is very much in line with security procedures at universities; escorts can be requested by anyone who feels the need for one. It's  "better safe than sorry" common sense.

So it is possible that at some point in the session, Senator Hoffman asked for an escort from Capitol Security. However, the office didn't receive reports of any death threats nor did it provide a "capitol police escort" as a consequence of them.

This is a serious concern. Security at the capitol is an important matter, regardless of how brave Hoffman may be, and the press corps really should check these things out. She has gone on record now with the Fergus Falls Daily Journal expressing her disappointment that the journalists did not do their jobs.

One additional recourse is available to Hoffman beyond her own personal fortitude. An NRA member, Hoffman says that she is the holder of a carry permit as well, according to the google cache of her campaign Facebook page, and so is legally able to use a firearm at the capitol.

Bluestem encourages her to ensure her legal right to defend herself, just as I urge the capitol press corps to seek out the truth about these conflicting stories. The Bill of Rights is a very fine thing.

Screenshots: From Hoffman's senate page. An old hand also tells me that other sources contain the home addresses of state lawmakers. Does Minnesota need a change of policy about disclosure of home addresses? (above); Hoffman touting her permit to carry (below).

Related posts: Tales of Hoffman: "I never knew how poor we were" (and neither did her radio audience)

Tales of Hoffman: Inquiry finds no evidence for supporters' claims of capitol "police escorts"

: Tales of Hoffman: Senator's intern writes a letter defending her former boss's ethically challenged tweet

: Tales of Hoffman: Rally in Fergus Falls on June 28; secret DFLer Bill Ingebrightsen invited

Tales of Hoffman: Kvetchin' Gretchen apologizes; local GOP bulldog takes up her cause

Lawyers, puns and money: on doing the right thing, and moving on

Shiny news object: Minnpost headline rewrites state's legislative social media ethics history

Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn seller's "sensitivity" defense unravels, forced to apologize

Tales of Hoffman: Senate Ethics Committee to workshop freshman pol's tweet on Monday

Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn peddler slapped with ethics beef; local editorial jeers her tweet

Tales of Hoffman: Unsweet tweet may meet ethics complaint fate

Tales of Hoffman; or, Newman off-shores Minnesota job-killing tax blame game

Tales of Hoffman: Attention gay Raelians! Schedule your next skeet shoot in Fergus Falls!

Tales of Hoffman: Inquiry finds no evidence for supporters' claims of capitol "police escorts"

Although two supporters of Senator Gretchen Hoffman have written that death threats and bullying during the session required escorts for the freshman legislator by law enforcement at the state capitol, an investigation by Bluestem Prairie finds no evidence to support the claims.

Last Friday, the Fergus Falls Daily Journal published a letter, Should advocate for Hoffman abasement, in which Fergus Falls resident David Adams scolded the newspaper for not defending the freshman senator against the ethics claims menace and the senator who generated it:

Additionally, you seem to think that she must obey your demands that she grovel to a mean-spirited and vindictive Sen. Goodwin who does nothing but promote a hedonistic agenda aimed at demeaning our traditional cultural values.

Okay then. Bluestem has not found the pursuit of pleasure to be the province of the mean-spirited and vindicative, but as a poor country blogger, my perspective on hedonism might suffer geographic limitations.

Adams is entitled to his opinion, as we all are, but later in the letter, he asserts a claim which stopped me cold:

In keeping her promise to us, Hoffman has been threatened with loss of her life, and bullied so badly by liberal groupies within the capitol halls that she has had to have capitol police escort her from her offices to committee hearings.[emphasis added]

However, The Daily Journal is more concerned with some perceived insult to someone who does not even represent our district or our interests. . . .

. . .You should be advocating for the protection of our senator not for her abasement.

Has Senator Hoffman's life been threatened? Has she been "bullied so badly by liberal groupies within the capitol halls that she has had to have capitol police escort her from her offices to committee hearings"?

If so, this isn't a joking matter. Death threats and a need for police escorts are no laughing matter. It's also a feminist issue, since historically violence and threats of violence have been used to keep women--regardless of their party--from participating in politics. More broad human rights considerations suggest that everyone has a right to feel secure in his or her person as we go about our business.

Nor is this the first time that a letter writer has claimed that Senator Hoffman has had reason to fear for her life. Back in  early April, Jerome Mullins wrote in Hoffman garners even more respect from voter:

And her work in committees to expose and cut unnecessary jobs and payroll expenses in some bloated governmental agencies and departments has got the government labor unions so angry with her that there are days when several Capitol police have to escort her and other conservative lawmakers around the halls of the legislature to provide her safety from the threats of the unions.

If these claims are true, this is serious stuff--for while Bluestem believes in felicitously composed ridicule, it doesn't support threats to people's lives. There should be no "Second Amendment solution" in disagreements with our elected officials; the solution is civic engagement and elections.

Have liberal groupies and public employee unions threatened Senator Hoffman with bodily harm? I couldn't find any news reports that support Mullins' claim that she and "other conservative lawmakers" had to be escorted by law enforcement inside the capitol--nor any reports of Hoffman being singled out.

One blogger had asked Are Conservative Lawmakers Being Escorted Around Capitol By Security? after reading Mullins's LTE in the Wadena Pioneer Journal, but appears to have directed his question to the world at large, rather than those involved in providing capitol complex security.

Others were asking more general questions about security on the hill. Indeed, questions of capitol complex security were deemed important enough by Governor Dayton, legislative leaders and the state supreme court to put together a review of the state's approach to the issue, following the attack on Representative Gabby Giffords in Arizona. The final report of the Minnesota committee can be read here.

Given the seriousness of the letter writers' claims--and Adams' request that the Fergus Falls Daily Journal begin advocating for Hoffman's protection, Bluestem started asking the specific question: Has Senator Gretchen Hoffman needed a police escort inside the Minnesota State Capitol because she has received threats?

My first call was to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms office. The person who answered the phone hadn't heard of any threats to Senator Hoffman, but noted that "Capitol Security" would be in charge of investigating any threats to senators, as well as providing any "police" escort inside the building. I was directed to call John Mock at Capitol Security.

Returning my call later yesterday afternoon, Mock said that no state patrol officers had been assigned to escort Senator Hoffman during the session, and his office had no record of any death threats to Hoffman that had been reported to Capitol Security.  However, he added that this is not a definitive answer.

He noted that while people often refer--as the letter writers did-- to "capitol police," this phrase is a misnomer. Two state patrol officers are assigned to Capitol Security, although their numbers are often supplemented as security needs change (say, when large rallies are planned).

The uniformed state patrol officers on duty are assisted by uniformed civilian security officers, who are employees of the state patrol, Mock explained. The  uniformed civilian security officers are the men and women at the state capitol who wear blue uniforms.

Finally, a third group assists with securing the capitol, non-uniformed civilian security personnel. This final group is largely composed of retired law enforcement officers. They wear maroon blazers, khaki slacks, and badges (not shields) that identify them.

Mock thought that it was possible that Hoffman might have asked for an escort from any of these levels, although his office has no record of such a request and no state patrol officers were assigned to protect her.

He noted that anyone at the capitol complex--including any visitor--can ask for an escort if he or she feels the need for one; one doesn't have to be a state employee or legislator working at the state capitol to receive assistance from Capitol Security. This policy is very much in line with security procedures at universities; escorts can be requested by anyone who feels the need for one. It's  "better safe than sorry" common sense.

So it is possible that at some point in the session, Senator Hoffman asked for an escort from Capitol Security. However, the office didn't receive reports of any death threats nor did it provide a "capitol police escort" as a consequence of them.

Given that this is the case, Mullins and Adams' claims seem more like the posings of characters from a reality show than solid concerns about Senator Hoffman's security. Indeed, I can't find any instance of Senator Hoffman herself making statements about threats or a need for "capitol police" escort.

I suspect a couple of DFL activist friends may be reading this and wondering where "liberal groupies" might be found, while public employee union members are probably just rolling their eyes at the "government employee union" rhetoric. One of the tactics of the right is to invoke dislike of the "government" with that dog-whistle label, in order to better demonize all public employees.

Let Bluestem make a modest proposal to Mullins and Adams. Given their flair for hysterics, and the overall lack of evidence at the state capitol for their claims, let them go into show business. All across greater Minnesota, cable access channels are crying out for material. These budding scriptwriters should pitch a show that will demonstrate their creative potential. Call it "The Real Drama Queens of Otter Tail County."

Photo: State Senator Gretchen Hoffman

Related posts: Tales of Hoffman: Senator's intern writes a letter defending her former boss's ethically challenged tweet

: Tales of Hoffman: Rally in Fergus Falls on June 28; secret DFLer Bill Ingebrightsen invited

Tales of Hoffman: Kvetchin' Gretchen apologizes; local GOP bulldog takes up her cause

Lawyers, puns and money: on doing the right thing, and moving on

Shiny news object: Minnpost headline rewrites state's legislative social media ethics history

Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn seller's "sensitivity" defense unravels, forced to apologize

Tales of Hoffman: Senate Ethics Committee to workshop freshman pol's tweet on Monday

Tales of Hoffman: Vergas yarn peddler slapped with ethics beef; local editorial jeers her tweet

Tales of Hoffman: Unsweet tweet may meet ethics complaint fate

Tales of Hoffman; or, Newman off-shores Minnesota job-killing tax blame game

Tales of Hoffman: Attention gay Raelians! Schedule your next skeet shoot in Fergus Falls!

 

Ghost of Willie Horton: Pawlenty pardon Jeremy Giefer and Bachmann pal Vennes in news

What with all the madness of the end of the session, it's easy to forget that Tim Pawlenty is running for president.

Fortunately, Politico is watching the presidential race and reports in Horton's ghost haunts GOP field:

It’s still early in the presidential race, so the opposition research dumps haven’t really begun. But when the skeletons in the closets of 2012 GOP hopefuls begin to be revealed, the unique shape of the field — which will almost certainly feature a handful of current or former governors — makes it a good bet that someone is going to have a Willie Horton problem.

That’s code for a violent or deranged felon run amok on their watch — a reference to the notorious convict who went AWOL during a furlough from a Massachusetts prison, committed more crimes and ultimately became the subject of a devastating ad that helped seal the fortunes of1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis.

With former Govs. Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman and Mitch Daniels in the 2012 mix — and a few other current and former chief executives perhaps in the wings — the issue of pardons and furloughs is one that could play an unexpected and damaging role for some campaigns.

Before he departed from the race, Mike Huckabee, who issued more than 1,000 sentence reductions and pardons as Arkansas governor, was widely viewed as having the most exposure. While no one in the current field has anything close to that in the oppo files, Romney and Pawlenty might be haunted by a few cons who could undermine their law-and-order credentials.

Pawlenty’s pardon problem involves Jeremy Geifer, who had been convicted in a statutory rape case involving a 14-year-old girl he later married. Geifer had been described by everyone in his life as a model of reform, which eventually led to a 2008 pardon by a three-person board led by Pawlenty.

But late last year, Geifer was accused of sexually assaulting another underage girl more than 250 times. Pawlenty moved swiftly, asking for a probe into whether Geifer lied on his pardon application and pushing to close down a day care run by his wife.

While finishing his term as Minnesota’s governor last year, Pawlenty said he never would have made that decision had such information been known at the time. And he pointed out that Geifer had finished his prison stint well before the pardon was granted – a mitigating factor that could lessen any of his rivals’ blows.

Yet there is also the case of Dru Sjodin, a college student who was murdered in 2003, early in Pawlenty’s administration, by a repeat sex offender who had only recently been released from prison. That case became national cable TV fodder, as the tragic search for the pretty blonde gripped viewers.

A Pawlenty aide referred to the governor’s book, “Courage to Stand,” in which he wrote that people played politics with the case and often had the facts wrong, and that Pawlenty was “horrified” by the man’s release.

The governor later proposed stiffer sentences for sex offenders, including doubling their jail time.

Romney is at an apparent advantage over Pawlenty — in his lone term in office, the former Massachusetts governor never issued a single pardon or commutation. But that doesn’t mean he’s in the clear. . . .

Readers may recall that the Giefer story first broke on Bluestem Prairie,  but was taken up by the City Pages relentless auburn wolverine, Nick Pinto. Pinto's reporting on the Giefer case is now up for two well-deserved Page One awards from the Society of Professional Journalists' Minnesota Chapter.

And Bachmann? There's that matter that Karl Bremer at Ripple in Stillwater dogged like no other--except perhaps Dump Bachmann. Politico reports:

Though it’s typically pardon-empowered governors who must fret about their felons in the closet, legislators can also have some cause for worry. Case in point: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who might need to explain her support for a pardon for a donor named Frank Vennes.

Vennes was convicted in 1988 on money-laundering charges, and pleaded no-contest to illegally selling a gun and aiding in a cocaine sale. He claimed he discovered religion while in prison, and went on to become a well-known donor -- in fact, he was a top giver to Bachmann’s 2006 congressional campaign.

She reportedly wrote in a pardon letter to then-President George W. Bush in 2007, “Mr. Vennes is truly a unique man in that he is not asking for a pardon that he may achieve personal success. By the grace of God, this has been done. Mr. Vennes is seeking a pardon so that he may be further used to help others.”

Well, that depends on the meaning of helping others — in 2008, the feds raided Vennes’ home as part of a probe into a massive Ponzi scheme.

In response, Bachmann wrote another letter to the White House -- this time saying she “too hastily accepted” Vennes’ claims that he was a new man, and withdrawing her earlier letter.

Vennes was indicted on new fraud and money-laundering charges a few weeks ago. . .

Bremer, also nominated for a Page One Award in one of the same categories for which Pinto is up for (though about different Bachmann scandal, the Bobby Thompson scam), also has the dogged quality that makes for an strong investigative writer.

Images: The Giefers.

Troubled "Secure Communities" amendment slipped into Data Practices bill

Across the country, an ICE program known as "Secure Communities" is coming under increased criticism as it sweeps up people with no criminal backgrounds. On Saturday, those dirty hippies at the Wall Street Journal reported in States Rebel Over Deportations:

Lawmakers and law-enforcement officials in several states are turning against a mandatory federal program that is a cornerstone of the Obama administration's immigration policy.

The Secure Communities initiative is designed to spot and deport illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. Under the program, fingerprints of people booked into a jail are transmitted to a database reviewed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. If found to be in the U.S. illegally, they can face deportation.

Recently, such states as Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and California have raised objections to the program's real-world effects: Although designed to remove criminals from the country, it has led to the deportation of thousands of people without criminal records. . . .

But a last-minute gambit by Republican majorities in the Minnesota legislature may bring the Orwellian-named "Secure Communities" to the Gopher State.

Pro-transparency and privacy rights blogger Rich Neumeister is on the watch at Open Secrets. He reports in Democratic Process hijacked at Legislature:

As I stated in a previous posts, the last week or so at the Legislature the democratic process is compromised for sake of expediency, but sometimes it is done to keep discussion on a subject to a minimum. This happened today with an initiative by Senator Ortman.

The Omnibus Data Practices bill, SF 1143, was heard on the floor of the Senate today.  As the bill goes through process, there are amendments.  Sen Ortman offered an amendment that would have the State participate in the Department of Homeland Security, Secure Communities Program.  The amendment was adopted.  Some givens, the amendment was not introduced as a bill, sometimes a bill is introduced, but not given a hearing, therefore, legislators try to get the bill on a proposal that is on the passage of becoming law.

With the Ortman amendment not being introduced as a bill, people did not know about the possibility of this legislation.  So today in the Senate, opportunity for her amendment.  No public notice and no process for public input on the floor of the Senate. . . .

I knew that the Secure Communities program has privacy and civil liberties issues.  With it being on the Senate bill I knew more than likely the issue could have a full hearing when the bill got to a conference committee which may be in a day or so.  This is done many times by legislators where an amendment is done in one body, but not in the other, and it is worked on in the conference committee.  When the process is done this way, organizations and groups are given notice, and also made aware that in conference committee they will have an opportunity to be heard.

But, low and behold at approximately 9:30pm, I saw on tweets that there was going to be a surprise policy amendment on the Crime Conference bill. . . .

The amendment was placed on the Crime conference bill without due diligence public notice, no opportunity for interested parties who oppose or critical to testify, and done in a way which the democratic ideals are made a mockery. . . .

Good legislation is made when both sides can be presented and be heard.

Go read the rest at Open Secrets. The post is also up at TC Indymedia.

While Minnesota Republicans have tended to take a hard line on all aspects of immigration issues, other players in Minnesota, including local law enforcement officials, the faith and human rights communities, and possibly even the business community, might well have wanted a word in edgewise on whether the North Star State should opt into this program.

Image: Indymedia created a surprise card.

The corrections: Senator Parry dodges more questions about program cuts

The lede in Friday's Faribault Daily News article, State Department of Corrections facing $75 million in proposed cuts, tells what's at stake in Senator Mike Parry's district:

It costs approximately $35 million alone to operate Minnesota’s largest correctional facility — located in Faribault — each year. But combined legislation threatens to cut $75 million from the Department of Corrections.

The cuts could mean an end to recidivism-reducing programs and inmate education classes, unemployment for hundreds of corrections employees and, ultimately, lead to the closing of a correctional facility.

“This is a very large cut that’s being proposed,” said John Schadl, the DOC communications director. “We would have to do some serious restructuring of the system in order to accommodate and deal with a cut that size.”

A range of proposed cuts currently exists in several different bills, Schadl said. A House Public Safety bill would cut $26 million with $17 million of that cut specifically from the prison system, something Schadl said is the equivalent of operating the Shakopee prison or the Red Wing juvenile prison.

A Senate bill proposes a 10 percent reduction for all government agencies, meaning about a $46 million cut for the DOC.

Not surprisingly,  Faribault's representative Patti Fritz, speaks up:

“If that isn’t one of the real points of government, providing safety and protecting citizens and incarcerating the prisoners we have, then what is?” said Rep. Patti Fritz, (DFL-Faribault). “There are folks who have some bad behaviors, and bad behaviors don’t leave when we lock them up. I am concerned about locking them up and the people guarding them. Cutting back is not the answer.”

And where's Mike Parry?

Sen. Mike Parry (R - Waseca) did not return calls for comment for this story.

Who knows?

Perhaps he was too busy whining to the Star Tribune about coverage of the vets bill coming out of his own committee or vets being used as "pawns." Funny how he had time to complain about Larry Shellito playing politics (as if Shellito isn't a straight-shooter) in Saturday's article, but not actually answer questions about corrections  on Friday or vets on Thursday.

Photo: Mike Parry, suddenly the sphinx of Waseca County.

Cornish not reforming corrections as "cuts get 'ugly'"

On Sunday, Bluestem looked at Rethinking punishment in a time of budget cuts, prompted by a couple of editorials:

Both the Mankato Free Press and the Winona Daily News have taken a look at Representative Cornish's plan to return short-term offenders with 60 days (or less) remaining on their sentences to the care and expense of county jails.

Both editorial boards suggest that something is being lost in shuffling the prisoners: a rethinking of harsh sentences and "time" itself, in favor of other approaches to crime and punishment. Neither paper asks whether such programs are slated to be funded as usual or cut in finance bills working their way through the legislature.

Now the Star Tribune asks that final question in Prisons chief: Cuts get 'ugly.' The headline and following story suggests that Cornish is cutting the budget, but not rethinking an essential government service. Staff writer Paul McEnroe reports:

State prison officials said cuts would have dire results. The legislator proposing them scoffed at such talk.

Top state corrections officials warned Wednesday that they would have to release more felons early, slash inmate education classes and perhaps close a juvenile facility in Red Wing that holds some of the state's most dangerous young offenders if the Legislature passes budget cuts proposed by key committees. . . .

House Public Safety Chairman Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, made no apologies for proposing $26 million in corrections cuts, and accused agency officials of engaging in scare tactics.

"What do we have to do?'' he said in an interview. "Take needle-nose pliers and lead them around by the nose?''

In an unusual twist, however, corrections officials note that their predecessors -- under a Republican administration -- raised precisely the same cautions two years ago, when a DFL-controlled Legislature proposed budget cuts.

As Bluestem noted, the Winona Daily News hoped Cornish was giving a nod to something other than a "throw away the key" approach, but it looks like the Blue Earth County legislator is throwing away the tools for rehabilitation instead. From the WDN editor Darrell Ehrlick in Maybe, solution isn’t jail or prison:

Instead of handing out weak or anemic sentences, maybe it’s time to quit with the sentencing part and focus on the behaviors that led someone to commit the crime in the first place.

So much of the lower-grade criminal courts are packed with people who have learning disabilities, psychiatric illnesses and drug use. . . .

. . .Shouldn’t we be locking up those who truly are dangerous, and figuring out how to help the rest?

Will the new bill help "people who have learning disabilities, psychiatric illnesses and drug use"?

The Strib reports:

Roy's staff noted that Minnesota already ranks 49th among the states in general-fund spending on corrections. They say that since 2002, more than $109 million has been cut from corrections operations, even while the state's prison population rose from 6,946 to 9,650.

Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed a $4 million cut to the department's budget, but would continue to fund chemical-dependency treatment programs.

Crist warned that short-term budget cuts would have unintended consequences. Chemical dependency programs, long recognized as a way to lower recidivism rates, would be completely eliminated, for example, under the House and Senate bills, and there would also be cuts to inmate health care and vocational training. [emphasis added]

"Funding cuts in programs delete constructive jobs for inmates,'' Crist said. "Idle inmates fill the boredom with misconduct.''

But Cornish sees another form of education going on (though silent about funding the alternate, community corrections and providing positive education through alternatives to penal programs):

Calling Minnesota's correctional facilities "colleges for crimes,'' Cornish said low-level offenders -- such as drug dealers, thieves and burglars - should be eligible for expanded early release into community corrections programs.

Yet even those prisoners often have long criminal records -- an average of seven convictions, including three felonies -- that indicate they'd be likely to re-offend unless they receive vocational or high school education, Crist said.

Tough talk from Cornish, but the Republican lawmaker doesn't seem to be following through with the logical conclusion to the notion of not liking hard time--supporting those community-based programs, rather than just dumping offenders on the counties.

 

 

Rethinking punishment in a time of budget cuts

Both the Mankato Free Press and the Winona Daily News have taken a look at Representative Cornish's plan to return short-term offenders with 60 days (or less) remaining on their sentences to the care and expense of county jails.

Both editorial boards suggest that something is being lost in shuffling the prisoners: a rethinking of harsh sentences and "time" itself, in favor of other approaches to crime and punishment. Neither paper asks whether such programs are slated to be funded as usual or cut in finance bills working their way through the legislature.

Editors favor "real reform"

In Shifting prison costs isn’t real reform, the Mankato Free Press urges a different approach to the costs off incarceration:

But both [the Legislature and sheriffs] should also examine the entire system to see if a “throw away the key” mentality is filling jails and prisons with non-violent offenders who would have a better chance of rehabilitation in a half-way house or other facility.

If the state wants to shift more of the cost to the county jails, the state should consider removing several unfunded mandates sheriffs and jails must put up with.

Instead of this issue being about who pays higher and higher costs, it should be how we can equitably assess costs that we can somehow lower through sensible reforms that maintain public safety but also protect the public’s pocketbook.

In behalf of the Winona Daily News board, editor Darrell Ehrlick writes in Maybe, solution isn’t jail or prison:

Many Minnesota sheriffs across the state aren’t real happy with Rep. Tony Cornish, R- Good Thunder.

One of his latest proposals includes sending any state prisoner with less than a 60-day sentence back to county jails to serve time. . . .

. . .Counties are pretty much powerless to fight such a measure, if other lawmakers hop aboard.

This, in a nutshell, is a game the Legislature has played for a few decades. It’s the fundamental problem that has the state shifting all its burdens to the county or city level, meanwhile sending little or no money along, and hobbling them by putting limits on local property taxes.

In other words, in a fight between the counties and the state, the state will always win. . .

. . .Instead, we wonder if Cornish’s legislation isn’t also another subtle endorsement of the good work that’s being done by our criminal justice coordinating committee that is considering other alternatives to sentencing and crime than just prison or jails.

Will legislature fund real reform?

Here's where the WDN's argument gets interesting--and where I wonder if the paper could have looked just a bit deeper into the omnibus bills for public safety and judiciary finance to see how programs like the criminal justice coordinating committee fare in the time of budget cuts.

If the bills cut funding to such efforts, perhaps what seems to be a subtle endorsement is simply an illusion.

Ehrlick continues:

Instead of handing out weak or anemic sentences, maybe it’s time to quit with the sentencing part and focus on the behaviors that led someone to commit the crime in the first place.

So much of the lower-grade criminal courts are packed with people who have learning disabilities, psychiatric illnesses and drug use. . . .

. . .Shouldn’t we be locking up those who truly are dangerous, and figuring out how to help the rest?

This seems like common sense, although as a nation, we rejected this reasoning several decades ago when states moved toward harsher sentencing.

So, how are programs designed to address learning disabilities, psychiatric illnesses and drug use faring?

Much of the attention to cuts in the bill focused on the severe slices made to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights budget; in the House bill, the department loses 50 percent of its funding, PIM's Paul Demko reported.

Are pieces of reform seeing cuts?

But Scott Russell at Minnesota Budget Bites (a multi-author blog published by the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits) looked beyond that rancorous debate in Legislature’s public safety budgets focus cuts on vulnerable Minnesotans:

Compared to other areas of the state budget, it appears the court system and public safety services fare well in the budget bills presented by the Governor, House and Senate. However, a little digging reveals some harmful cuts within the House and Senate proposals that will negatively impact access to legal representation and crime prevention services (both the House and Senate are now both working off of Senate File 958). [BSP note: this is the judiciary finance bill; the House version is authored by Smith and Cornish]

The House, Senate and Governor all propose increasing funding for the Department of Corrections by $27 million to partially restore a cut to core prison operations that was made in the 2010 Legislative Session. However, the House and Senate must turn to cuts in other areas of public safety - including services for children, youth and other vulnerable populations - to meet their budget targets.

And some of those programs relate to the areas Ehrlick delineated:

Prevention services. Office of Justice programs within the Department of Public Safety work on crime prevention, crime victim assistance and improvements to the justice system. The House cuts funding for these programs by 17 percent in FY 2012-13, [emphasis added] limiting cuts to battered women programs to a maximum of 11 percent. The Senate cuts funding by five percent in FY 2012-13, including eliminating grants for youth and community crime prevention. The Governor proposes essentially flat funding for these services in the FY 2012-13 biennium, although he recommends $3 million in one-time funding for Network for Better Futures to complete a pilot program that provides housing, employment and other supports to men at high risk of entry or re-entry into corrections or chemical or mental health programs (the House and Senate do not fund this pilot program).[emphasis added]

Other initiatives. The House plans to achieve $17 million in savings in public safety in FY 2012-13 by cutting back on management and reducing inmate medical per diems. . . .[emphasis added] . . .Other initiatives in the House bill include moving offenders with 60 days or less on their prison sentences to county facilities, which shifts these costs to the county level, and charging inmates a copayment for health care visits.

In Recent budget bills offer cause for concern, Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-66B) notes one such concern:

With deep cuts to the Public Safety budget, the Department of Corrections will see changes in their ability to offer programs that reduce recidivism in our communities, like chemical dependency treatment and community supervision. . . .Furthermore, there are particularly painful cuts to . . . crime prevention programs like youth intervention services.

It appears that programs designed to "focus on the behaviors that led someone to commit the crime in the first place" are indeed facing the axe.

The truth is that such programs cost money, at least in the short term, and with the revenue crunch the state is facing--and the unwillingness of the Republican Party to ask for a single dime of added revenue (the professional sports industry and its fans excluded), there's no movement in the legislature to fund them.

And editors discerning glimmer of such hopes in Cornish's public safety agenda of one provision (sending prisoners to county jails when they have 60 days remaining on their sentences) might need to look at the larger finance  bills for public safety and judiciary finance bill  to see if those hopes are validated.

One final note. Ehrlick specifically mentions the Winona County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in the WDN editorial. It runs effective diversion programs. How will those diversion programs--and the services they rely on--be affected? The WDN has some very good reporters on staff, as does the MFP. It's worth looking into to see how  these programs would do.

Mower County sheriff remembers cost of unfunded short-term offender mandate

While members of the new Republican majority have touted eliminating unfunded mandates on local government that they claim are costly--like that oh-so-inconvenient, once-every-three years report on pay equity between genders---Tony Cornish introduced legislation that would bring back one that cost counties millions before an earlier incarnation was repealed in 2009.

HF 1033 was later folded into the Public Safety Finance Omnibus Bill, and the length of time for a prisoner's remaining sentence cut from 180 to 60 days, but no funding provided by the legislature to help out counties.

The Austin Herald looks at how the proposal to shift the care of some prisoner to local jails would affect Mower County in Bill proposes county jails house ’short-term offenders’:

Members of the state Legislature are working on a bill that, if passed, would give the Mower County jail more use while costing county taxpayers a hefty chunk of change.

The legislation, known as the short-term offenders bill, would mandate a felony prison sentence of 180 days or less be served in county jails instead of state prisons. For example, if someone serves six months of a one-year sentence on probation, but then violates his or her probation, he or she would be sent to Mower County jail rather than a state prison. [HF was folded into the larger omnibus bill, and the time in county jails reduced to 60 days-- BSP note.]

Sheriff Terese Amazi said this mandate was in place from 2003 to 2008 and cost Mower County $497,994. In 2008 alone, the county spent $77,415 on board for short-term offenders — that doesn’t include food or medical expenses, which can get pricey.

“This is another tax shift to local tax payers,” Amazi said. “This comes out of property taxes instead of state coffers.”

Despite the reduction of time prisoners will be in county custody, it's still an added expense to counties that have had other aid from the state cut.

A 2009 Star Tribune article, Short-term offender law hits counties the hardest, looked at the problem  from the time it went into effect in 2003, with a focus on the burden imposed on the metro area. The costs--and the consequences were staggering. First, there was the financial burden to local counties:

Much of the burden falls on Hennepin County, which expects to pay an estimated $1.5 million for short-term offenders this year, said Tom Merkel, director of community corrections and rehabilitation. The county had 61 short-term inmates in its workhouse this spring.

In Washington County, which budgets a cost of $124 a day per inmate, the $10 state reimbursement for short-term offenders doesn't even pay for meals, said Sheriff Bill Hutton. The expense has been a painful pill to swallow when commissioners had to cut $3.2 million in other costs -- including jobs and a popular 4-H youth development program -- from this year's budget after Gov. Tim Pawlenty throttled back state aid to counties.

Counties complain bitterly that state and federal mandates consume most of their budgets -- in Washington County, it's an estimated 80 percent -- which leaves little money to spend on services such as public safety, roads and libraries without raisng taxes.

In metro counties, the short-term offender requirement often tops the list of complaints..

Second, the article notes how the county jails were not prepared for the serious offenders who might have otherwise been in state prisons. One man--held for lacking car insurance--was murdered in jail by a short-term offender:

In Washington County, which had 12 short-term offenders in jail recently, Hutton said he's concerned about mixing state prisoners convicted of felonies with city and county prisoners doing time for gross misdemeanors such as assaults or drunken driving, or awaiting court appearances.

"These aren't just DUI guys," Hutton said of the short-term offenders. "Our audit of criminal history shows these are folks who should be in prison. It's very taxing on our resources in the jail.. . .

. . .In one high-profile case in the Sherburne County jail in 2006, an inmate who had been transferred from the state's super-max prison in Oak Park Heights beat a 28-year-old Elk River man to death with a handrail. The victim, Carl Moyle, was jailed for having no vehicle insurance. His assailant, Bruce Christenson of Hibbing, had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic but jail officials said they didn't know that.

Finally, housing short-term prisoners in county jails appears to raise the recidivism rate:

Merkel, in Hennepin County, said short-term offenders assigned to counties tend to commit crimes more often after their release because jails and workhouses don't have rehabilitation programs that prisons do. In a three-year span in Hennepin County, he said, 44 percent of short-term offenders drifted into crime again, compared with 32 percent of inmates from state prisons.

Given that a recent study by the Pew Center on the States fund that Minnesota led the country in recidivism, with 61 percent of prisoners released in 2004 returning to prison by 2007, one has to wonder: "What the hey, Tony?"

While the time that prisoners will spend in county jails is reduced from what Cornish originally proposed in HF1033, the coutnies will still have to come up with the money somewhere.

Cornish himself likes to call the current system "reverse unfunded mandates" while talking about about how the "sky is falling." Perhaps if the rate of taxation for the wealthiest Minnesotans--who pay the smallest percentage of their income in taxes--were one option Cornish and the Republican flock would look a lot less like Chicken Little and more like leaders.

 

"The sky is falling": Cornish unfunded mandate for local jails irritates MN sheriffs

 For a lawman, Rep. Tony Cornish (who serves as Lake Crystal's chief of police when not hanging with the Draz and the Gruenator in the House Public Safety committee) has Minnesota sheriffs ready to read the riot act.

In Inmate legislation worries sheriff, the Winona Daily News reports:

A recent bill that would require some prison inmates to serve time in county jails has raised concern among some county sheriffs. Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, would like to see all state inmates sentenced to serve 60 days or less in prison spend the time in county jails. . . .

"It's not good for us," Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand said. "It would increase our spending."

The bill would require counties and, consequently, taxpayers, to cover the slightly more than $100 a day per inmate cost that's currently footed by the state. And that amount would likely increase for counties with overcrowded jails already struggling to find enough space for inmates, such as Winona County, Brand said. Jails at full capacity must pay other counties to house additional inmates.

As of Friday, 11 of Winona's inmates were being held in Wabasha County's jail, according to daily booking records.

"We don't have any room for them here," Brand said. . . .

The Mankato Free Press article, Sheriffs chafe at shift;Counties would jail some now in state prisons, echoes the concerns of Winona County's sheriff:

On one issue, Lake Crystal Police Chief and state lawmaker Tony Cornish has produced una­nimity among the sheriffs across Minnesota’s 87 coun­ties.

“Myself and the other 86 sheriffs in the state aren’t too happy with the proposal Rep. Cornish is pushing,” said Nicollet County Sheriff Dave Lange.

Cornish acknowledges the sheriffs' concerns, attributes the cuts to the state's dire financial situation, but nonetheless wants the proposed change to persist through better times:

. . .steep cuts in many programs make them only one of many sources of grumbling. The only exception is the judicial system, which budget committees worked to protect from cuts.

“Everybody else is pretty much, ‘ The sky is falling,’” he said.

Cornish isn’t backing down on the proposal to move short-term inmates from the state Department of Corrections to county jails. In fact, he thinks the change should continue even after the state’s budget woes lessen.

“After studying it, it really probably should be looked at as a permanent fix,” he said.

Fixing tickets, unbuckling liberty: Republican introduces bill about not enforcing a law

Over at the Minnesota independent, Andy Birkey reports in GOP pushes tenther amendment to ban ‘Obamacare,’ DFLers call it the Southern Strategy that Glenn Gurenhagen introduced language that would stop a law from going into effect:

Republicans in the Minnesota House have included an amendment to the health and human services omnibus bill that would ban the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the state of Minnesota . . .

Not to be outdone by a freshman legislator, Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) has introduced a bill to ban sealtbelt enforcement waves:

Beard’s bill would specifically prohibit saturation campaigns to nab motorists failing to buckle up. It also would prohibit sting operations that rely on using deception to catch drivers violating the seat belt law.

Supporters of seat belt enforcement argue that these law enforcement efforts are about saving lives.

“It is a painful ticket, and I understand that, but often people who get it continue to comply and we know it’s lifesaving,” said Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester.

In 2009, Norton helped lead the effort to get the primary seat belt law passed, which allows law enforcement officers to pull over motorists solely for failing to buckle up.

What's the problem? People have complained to Beard about getting tickets:

For Beard, the concern goes beyond seat belt enforcement. He said he has been getting complaints from citizens across the state who are being pulled over by the Minnesota State Patrol for things like tinted windows, gas cans on trailers and unbuckled seat belts.

“This chairman is starting to wonder if harassment is becoming a policy of the state patrol, and I think that is counterproductive,” he said.

I see. So law enforcement enforcing the law is the new harassment.

Beard doesn't see the seat belt law itself being repealed because of federal funding:

Bills have been introduced to repeal the primary seat belt law. Beard said he does not see those going anywhere since the federal government is giving the state additional money for having the law in place. As for his bill, he said the main goal is to have a discussion about how the state patrol is operating.

“I put the bill in so we can have a discussion,” he said “I don’t know that I necessarily need it to pass, but certainly we need the patrol to come in and explain to us elected representatives why we are getting this outcry from citizens.”

Citizens coming to their elected officials about tickets? Perhaps Beard could name his bill the "Ticket Fixing Act of 2011."