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Minnesota can end mass incarceration, here and now
We can reimagine justice, which will pave the way to invest more into safety, community and infrastructure.
By David Boehnke
December 12, 2022 at 12:00AM
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We often talk about social problems as if they were impossible to solve. Yet informed observers now believe Minnesota could address "the civil rights issue of our time" — mass incarceration — this decade.
How has this come about, and what does it mean in real life?
We are here because ...
- A wave of incarcerated people has come out of prison and begun leading, becoming organizers, re-entry program directors, co-op leaders and executive directors.
- Leadership on the issue also saw an infusion of resources after the murder of George Floyd and a deepening of an infrastructure, from colleges and even law students in prison to conferences and research.
- Other efforts have included everything from showcasing the art of incarcerated people to victim survivor coalitions looking for alternatives to incarceration, restorative practitioners and laws showing it can be done.
- We have a prison commissioner with a heart and a Democratic trifecta Nov. 8 in response to a "tough on crime" election.
If the movement to end mass incarceration is united, we only have to fight one party to accomplish transformative goals. It's our time.
COVID-19 has shown that business as usual doesn't make us safer, that we can safely lock up far fewer people. In 2023 no one can deny that the system has a knee on the neck of the poor — Black, Indigenous, white, immigrant, women, LGBTQ and more. Every group has people in prison whom they have a reason to care about.
There are some 8,000 people in prison in Minnesota. If we returned to 1980 levels we'd have 2,500. If we build the best public-safety apparatus in the country we'll have fewer than 1,000 by 2035.
Why should we do it? To increase safety and change culture to make safety permanent. How? By reimagining justice in four ways.
First, we need to move away from justice meaning you prove something happened and then maximize prison time. Crime is about harm to people and relationships; justice means restoring them as much as possible and breaking the cycle, so harm stops with us.
This is difficult, sacred work, and also work that has everything to do with practicality and little to do with mercy. If we want less crime we need to do what causes less crime. Restorative justice programs, from felony-level violent crimes, including sex crimes, on down is simply more effective and more cost-effective. And it does so much more to strengthen and rebuild communities.
Prison is criminogenic. It causes crime, in individuals and across generations. If we want less crime we must choose responses that don't do that.
Second, we need to incentivize smart public-safety decisions on the front end. Right now everyone is incarcerated through a county, but counties pay little for incarceration. This makes no sense. Blank checks are the definition of a bad incentive. Incentivizing the most harmful and expensive response to crime is a self-fulfilling folly.
This is why, from 1973 to 1985, Minnesota Community Corrections Act counties had to pay the full cost of incarceration of five years or less. This is a key reason why Minnesota still has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country, and a concept we need to bring back. If counties had to pay for incarceration, they would have to budget to prioritize safety — and they would make far better safety decisions.
Currently, 25% of counties incarcerate at eight times the rate of the 25% of counties that incarcerate the least, after adjusting for crime. We would have neither a revolving door of petty violations nor nonviolent people in prison if the cost was paid for by the people choosing to incarcerate, not picked up by the state.
Third, we need to incentivize on the back end, including legislating that our prison system "shall" use the tools provided it. If someone is not a risk to the public they should not be in prison. It is not worth the $56,250 per person, per year, we spend on our prisons.
Moreover, we must reinvest savings from effective early release programs. Reinvesting savings into county programs, victim services, the prison system, and the state budget gives everyone a reason to make good public-safety decisions, and to keep making our systems more rehabilitative.
Moreover, the Department of Corrections should not have so much discretion to not utilize the rehabilitative tools it has, like work and medical release, boot camp and parole. It is not enough to say they "may" use them. If your job is corrections, you shall or you must!
Fourth, and perhaps most important, we need to empower those incarcerated to be the change they need to succeed. Prison is set up like an abusive relationship. No one outside knows what's going on, and those who learn are disbelieved or punished for revealing what's happening. There is constant abuse happening in prison. But also, many who live and work there are striving to remake their lives. If we allow them the tools to thrive in this century — internet access and mobile employment, art and technology, mentorship networks, college, and ability to start their own nonprofits and businesses — they will do amazing things. If we allow those who love and support them to help, to be there, and to advocate for changes without retaliation, we will create the most powerful restorative system imaginable. We will have incarcerated people becoming restorative-justice practitioners in prison, and leaving to be circle keepers, those who heal communities, break cycles and restore our future.
Ending mass incarceration means freeing up at least $400 million each year to invest in safety, community and infrastructure, even as we transform our vanishing prisons into places that transform lives. This is our time to make Minnesota the first state in the union to end mass incarceration.
David Boehnke, of Minneapolis, is a teacher and volunteer organizer (dboehnke@gmail.com).
about the writer
David Boehnke
If our 19th-century forebears were to return and examine the criminal justice system of today, they would probably be appalled by our long sentences and the lack of opportunity for mercy.
