A bipartisan group of state lawmakers wants a five-year maximum on probation in Minnesota, plus treatment instead of incarceration for probation violations in non-violent drug cases. Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says, “Sixty percent of the people who go into prison in Minnesota go not for committing a new crime, but for a technical violation of probation.”
Democrat Carlos Mariani, chair of a key committee, says he believes the bills will pass the Minnesota House and is “really hopeful” for support in the Republican-controlled Senate as well.