State of Minnesota drops effort to get inmates released during pandemic back into prison

Three former Minnesota prison inmates granted early supervised release during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be forced back behind bars.

That's after the state Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to drop its opposition to a 2022 lawsuit brought by the inmates attempting to prevent their reincarceration, which was the state's original plan. They had been given the conditional early release due to their heightened risk of contracting COVID.

The plaintiffs argued it was illegal to send them back to prison when they could have significant or fatal reactions to COVID due to their health conditions. It means the plaintiffs will not have to go back to prison as long as they don't violate the conditions of their supervised release.

One of the plaintiffs, Tanya Wagner, was pregnant with her daughter when the DOC tried to force her to return to prison. Wagner's attorney said her client no longer has to worry if she will be separated from her child to finish a prison sentence for a felony drug charge.

"I am delighted at the DOC's humane decision, and it's a huge relief for our clients," said attorney JaneAnne Murray, director of the University of Minnesota Law School Clemency Clinic. "During their years in the community, they have built strong family relationships — in Ms. Wagner's case, a deep bond with her now 2-year-old daughter and they have been filled with anxiety and dread at the prospect of return."

The DOC declined to comment on its decision.

The DOC had previously argued that several of the plaintiff inmates had become a risk to the public. One was plaintiff DeAndre Jerome Barnes, who was convicted of second-degree murder 24 years ago. The DOC said Barnes had received three misdemeanor convictions since his early release, including obstructing the legal process and driving without a valid license.

Someone also petitioned for a harassment restraining order against him, the DOC said.

In 1999, Barnes shot and killed a 19-year-old man in a car in north Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported at the time. The two were believed to be in rival gangs and knew each other, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

ACLU staff attorney Dan Shulman, who represented the plaintiffs, disagreed with the DOC's reasoning. He said Barnes has been a "model citizen" since his supervised release, and noted Barnes has started his own business and bought a house.

Shulman called the outcome a "great win" for his clients and the legal organizations representing them.

"All of these people were really on the path to rehabilitation, and DOC very graciously decided, let's end this and let these people stay out as long as they comply with the conditions of their release," Shulman said.

During the pandemic, the DOC freed 158 people from prison under supervised "conditional medical release," following a screening process. The DOC deemed them vulnerable to serious complications if they contracted COVID in prison. About 2,300 prisoners applied.

In 2022 the DOC tried to force the 18 remaining people on conditional medical release to return, resulting in the lawsuit. Five inmates brought the lawsuit, but two of them reached the end of their sentences while out of prison.

The DOC argued that the availability of vaccines has increased and that the number of infections in prisons has decreased sufficiently to allow for former prisoners to be returned.

Murray said she believes her two clients' drug sentences were too long, and that the sentence for client Robert Rosas "would be considerably shorter today because of changes in the drug guidelines that were not made retroactive."

"After years of law-abiding and productive living in the community, it is simply too cruel to return our clients to prison," Murray said.

Murray noted that Wagner has become a certified peer recovery specialist and gotten a job with a nonprofit since her release, working with people struggling with mental health issues and addiction.

The Minnesota Alliance on Crime, a coalition of crime victim service organizations, stressed in an email that the former inmates have been living in the community "without issue" for over two years.

Bobbi Holtberg, the executive director of the alliance, added that victims of the offenders "have been contacted and provided with support and information regarding how to access resources, should they need them."