As the Walz administration begins a push to cap probation terms at five years in Minnesota, the American Civil Liberties Union is out with recommendations on reducing the state’s prison population. Spokeswoman Jana Kooren says A-C-L-U Minnesota supports full legalization of marijuana. “One in five people in prison are there for drug offenses. That’s the most common charge,” Kooren says. “While not all of those are marijuana, there’s definitely a high number of those that are due to marijuana offenses.”
The A-C-L-U also says people should not be sent back to prison for technical violations of probation. And they say people should be kept in jail before trial only when they pose a serious and clear threat to others.