Wednesday, October 10th
8:30am, Minneapolis Convention Center

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.

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