Council on Crime and Justice

Healthy Educational Lifestyle Project 

The Welcome Home Offenders Heath Fair is designed to encourage, support and educate those offenders who returned back to community in the seven county metro areas.  These individuals have completed the Healthy Educational Lifestyle Project (HELP) classes held in Minnesota Department of Corrections and/or participated in the HELP support group known as “Felons 4 Felons”. 

A full day training providing breakout sessions, resources and networking; there will also be refreshment served.  Breakout session will focus on; benefits of drug court, transitioning from prisoner to government employee, and changing from criminal thinking to a healthy lifestyle.

Keynote Speaker

Benny Lee; Treatment Alternative to Special Clients (TASC), Gateway Foundation and founder of the African American Survivors Organization

Resources will be provides by:

Council on Crime and Justice, MN DOC, Parole and Probation, Turning Point Inc., Urban Ventures, Southside Health clinic, North Point Health & Wellness center African American Family Services, African American Aids Task Force, etc. Networking will be done with individuals and agencies building relationships and dialoging about restorative justice issues.

Flyer here

2009 Minnesota Justice Forum 

Building the Road to Restoration

October 12, 2009
University of St. Thomas School of Law
1000 LaSalle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Featured Guests Include:
Marc Mauer, The Sentencing Project
Julie Stewart, Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Judge James Rosenbaum, U.S. District Court
Todd Jones, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota

Juvenile and Criminal Records Reform:
Building the Road to Restoration

9:00-12:00

The Policy Forum will focus on potential changes to Minnesota law that will allow individuals with juvenile and criminal records to ultimately overcome, through appropriate steps, the many barriers that have been placed in the way of their restoration as fully contributing members of our communities. Policy proposals and position papers accepted until Oct 1.

The Politics of State and National
Criminal Justice Policy:
Moving Beyond the Era of Mass Incarceration and Perpetual Punishment

1:00-4:30

The Community Forum will focus on the changes that need to occur both locally and nationally in order to end the recent trend and move toward a new focus on restoration. It will include an examination of the importance of racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

The Council on Crime and Justice convenes the Minnesota Justice Forum, with the support of community partners, to bring policymakers and community leaders together to create just and effective criminal justice policy.

2009 COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee

For more information,  contact:

Mark Haase
Director of Public Policy
Council on Crime and Justice
612-353-3020

haasem@crimeandjustice.org

New Tools for a Diverse and Safe Workforce: 

Minnesota’s New Safe Hiring and Ban the Box Laws Increase Diversity and Limit Employer Liability

June 29th, 2009
University of St. Thomas School of Law
1101 Harmon Place, Room 235
Minneapolis, MN

Learn how two new laws developed by the Council on Crime and Justice and signed by Governor Pawlenty on May 11th will help employers to adopt practices that increase employment opportunities for individuals with criminal histories while limiting employer liability. Because of the disproportionate numbers of Minnesotans of color with a criminal history, adoption of these new policies will also help employers to develop a more diverse workforce. One law limits the admissibility of an employee’s criminal history information in civil actions. The other requires public employers to wait until a job applicant has been selected for an interview before asking about criminal records or conducting a background check.

Read the event program here (.pdf)

For more information, contact:
Mark Haase, Director of Public Policy
Council on Crime and Justice haasem@crimeandjustice.org


 

The 2008 Equal Justice Benefit was a Great Success!

The Council on Crime and Justice gathered with over 100 friends at the lovely Pillsbury Mansion, home of our very generous hosts Uri & Melissa Camarena, on December 10th, 2008, to honor and celebrate Tom Johnson by presenting him with the 2008 Equal Justice Award.

View Slideshow

Thank you to all of you who shared this evening with us, both by attending and by supporting the event financially. 

Special thanks to our very generous Event Sponsors and Hosts!

Event Sponsors

3M

Gray Plant Mooty

Blackwell Burke

Minneapolis Empowerment Zone

Thomson Reuters 

Framework For the Future Forum
Justice, Where Art Thou?

Read the Report

Over the past fifty years Minnesota’s population has not quite doubled, from 3.4 million in 1957 to 5.2 million in 2005. The state’s prison population, however, has increased six-fold, from about 1,500 in 1957 to 9,000 in early 2007. Several factors are important to note. The first is that although Minnesota’s prison population has historically been one of the lowest, per capita, in the country, it is now one of the fastest growing. Over the last 10 years alone, it has grown from 5,500 to 9,000. Additionally, persons of color currently make up 42% of that prison population, but only 14% of the general population. This disproportionate representation of persons of color, not just in our prisons but throughout our criminal justice system, is quite recent as well. It has developed over the past two decades, in tandem with major demographic shifts in our state. It has also developed in parallel with alarming drop-out rates among children of color in many of our schools.

On Wednesday, October 10^th, at a day-long Community Forum at the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Council will present findings on the key developments affecting the criminal justice system and public safety in Minnesota over the past fifty years. Based on these developments, the Council will then present a proposal, a “Framework for the Future”, with recommendations for positive change in the future. We are undertaking this project with expert advice from Hazel Reinhardt, Minnesota’s state demographer for many years, and from an Advisory Group chaired by Judge Diana E. Murphy, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, and Ron James, CEO of the Center for Ethical Business Cultures at the University of St. Thomas. While focused on Minnesota, we believe that the results of this project will have national significance.

More Information
Visit our Partner Page
Event Sponsors

 
» In 2007, on the occasion of our Fiftieth Anniversary, the Council conducted a major study of

The 2007 Equal Justice Benefit featured award-winning author and futurist Malcolm Gladwell and commemorated our 50th Anniversary!  Mr. Gladwell spoke at our annual fundraiser on Tuesday, October 9th, beginning with a reception at 5:30pm at the Pantages Theatre.  He addressed the findings of our 50th Anniversary research examining the key developments that have shaped Minnesota's Criminal Justice System over the past half-century. 

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of two books, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference," (2000) and "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" (2005), both of which were number one New York Times bestsellers.

Thank you to our generous Event Sponsors!

Maslon, Edelman, Borman, & Brand, LLP
3M Legal Department
Minnesota Law & Politics

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2006 Equal Justice Benefit!

The event, held at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, was successful by all accounts. We enjoyed great food and drink, had the opportunity to celebrate with some good friends and some new friends, and raised significant funds for our cause.

We were particularly pleased to recognize Jerry Blackwell’s work toward justice with the 2006 Equal Justice Award. And we were thrilled to have all of our former Equal Justice Awardees present at the event as well.

A special thanks to our generous sponsors, Minnesota Law and Politics, The Regis Foundation, and Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi and to our long list of generous event Hosts.

2006 Equal Justice Benefit Sponsors

Minnesota Law and Politics
Regis Foundation
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP

Food provided by WASABI

Equal Justice Benefit Hosts

Joe Anthony and Megan Mourning
Andris Baltins
Tom and Susan Boardman
Ann and Mike Ciresi
Jay Cowles
Sage and John Cowles
John Eisberg

Jon P. Erickson
Charlie and Anne Ferrell
Barbara Forster and Larry Hendrickson
John and Martha Gabbert
Bud and Beverly Grossman
Ann Marie Hanrahan
Doug and Martha Head
Anne and Peter Heegaard
B. Todd Jones and Margaret Jones
Sam and Sylvia Kaplan
Marlene and Tom Kayser

Bill and Pat Kelly
Larry and Susan King
Jennifer and Mark Labovitz
David and Randy Lebedoff
Dennis and Gail Mathisen
Malcolm and Patricia McDonald
Mike and Shirley Miles
John and Jane Mooty
John and Sheila Morgan
Vance Opperman
Lawrence and Linda Perlman
Michelle and Bill Pohlad
Rebecca Rand
Paula and Walter Richey
Rick and Nancy Solum
Mary Strand and Tom Fraser
Roberta Walburn
David and Ruth Waterbury

Call to Justice

Improving Racial Justice & Enhancing Public Safety

The Council on Crime and Justice will host a large public event, the Call to Justice Forum, on June 28th. The day-long event takes place at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College on Hennepin Ave. in Minneapolis. The forum serves as an opportunity to unveil the findings and recommendations of five years of research conducted by the Council. The purpose of the research was to examine why Minnesota’s justice system has some of the largest racial disparities in the nation, and to understand the negative effect of those disparities on public safety and on the community as a whole. The Council has enlisted 66 partner organizations to develop action steps to address this issue at the June 28th forum. Partners include the mayors and police chiefs of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Public School District, the Itasca Project, the Legal Rights Center, Hennepin County, Ramsey County and several minority bar associations, the Minnesota Psychological Association, Jewish Community Action, African American Men Project, Headwaters, Metro State University, the Minneapolis and St. Paul Foundations, and a number of corporate and legal entities including General Mills, 3M, Maslon Edelman, and Dorsey and Whitney.

 On Friday, September 26, 2003, approximately 70 people attended the Council's Parent & Youth Summit, including community members, teachers, students, service providers, as well as criminal justice and educational system stakeholders. The Summit was held at the Holiday Inn on the East Side of St. Paul.

An impressive group of speakers presented at the Summit. (Break out sessions addressed issues from Tattoo removal to Truancy). Our Keynote speaker, Rev. Devin Miller, gave a bracing speech. And Special Guest, Justice Alan Page, conducted a stimulating discussion with participants. We are very grateful to all of the people who volunteered their time to the Council to participate in the Summit’s discussions and presentations.

On the evening of September 25th, 2003, a benefit event was hosted for the Council by some of our generous supporters, at a spectacular loft overlooking the Mississippi. The purpose of the event was two-fold. First, it was an opportunity to present the Council’s Equal Justice Award to former Minnesota Governor and Congressman Al Quie, also a longtime member of the Council’s Board of Directors. The award was presented in recognition of Governor Quie’s important work with offenders and of his work promoting educational achievement as a means to avoid crime. Secondly, the event was an opportunity to raise funds and visibility for the Council. The event exceeded our expectations in every way. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and who showed such interest in and generosity toward the Council’s work. And once again, our best wishes and congratulations to Governor Quie.

Below are photos from the event:
(click on any image to enlarge)
 

L to R: Board member Bonnie McPhee; Anne Heegard; Leou Cooper; Shirley Miles; Council Board Chair Mike Miles	Board member David lebedoff and crowd
Mpls Mayor Rybak in the background.	Former MN Gov. Al Quie delivering a speech.
Crowd listening to speech by former Gov. Al Quie.	Crowd listening to speech by former Gov. Al Quie.
Honoree Gov. Al Quie shared a laugh	A view from the inside.

"Stevie", a film by award-winning producer, raises timely questions about the criminal justice system, social responsibility and family loyalties.

With the generous support of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, the Council on Crime and Justice hosted a special screening of the new documentary "Stevie". The event benefited the Council on Crime and Justice and the proceeds were shared with Family Support Network. Producer Gordon Quinn was present.

"Stevie" earned notable critical acclaim and is the work of the makers of the prize-winning documentary “Hoop Dreams”, one of the most popular documentaries of all time.

The film chronicles several years in the life of a troubled young man in rural Illinois, and the forces that shaped his life, through the eyes of his one-time "Advocate Big Brother", director Steve James. The film's production company, Kartemquin Films, has a long history of making films with a social conscience. In keeping with this tradition, Kartemquin made an unusual arrangement with the film's distributor, Lions Gate Films for one pre-release screening to benefit a local non-profit working in the areas of juvenile justice and juvenile victimization and delinquency prevention, in each major city where the film opens.

In Minneapolis/St. Paul, the beneficiary wais the Council on Crime and Justice!

The Council on Crime and Justice held its first ever Benefit Event in October 2002. The event, generously hosted by Anne and Peter Heegaard, was attended by some 150 guests. Both old and new Council friends and supporters, clients, board members, community leaders and members, and staff came to support the Council's work, and to honor the inimitable Gisela (Gisa) Konopka, whose work defending the rights of at-risk youth is legendary. The event was a resounding success! Many thanks to all who came and contributed generously to the energy and warmth of the evening as well as to the Council’s bottom line.

That evening, Gisa became the first recipient of the Council's Equal Justice Award, for her many remarkable contributions to social justice. We will miss her, but her legacy remains with us forever.

 Below are pictures taken from the event.
(click on any image to enlarge)
 

Left to Right: Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, Reverend Al Gallmon	The Crowd	Right to Left:Mayor Rybak, Herman Milligan, Jesse Overton and friend
Left to Right:Marian Etzwiler and Ruth Waterbury	Left to Right:David Waterbury, Reverend Gallmon and friend	Left to Right:Governor Quie, event host Peter Heegaard, and Council founding member Dick Ericson

We built this event around the remarkable career of Dr. Gisela Konopka, who was our honoree. Dr. Konopka, Professor Emeritus and founder of the Konopka Institute at the University of Minnesota, has devoted her long and energetic life to improving the lives and prospects of at risk youth. She has also encouraged many adults to mentor and work with young people to provide them with the support they need to grow and thrive.