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| Study Finds Minn. Drug Offenders Increasingly Incarcerated |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/19/2004 |
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A study ordered by the state Legislature found that over 30 percent of people sentenced to prison in Minnesota in 2002 were drug offenders, an increase from roughly 12 percent in 1990. The number of felony drug sentences was up 32 percent in 2002 compared with a year earlier, the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission found in the study released last Wednesday. "In the past, Minnesota had distinguished itself by not filling up its prisons with drug users," said Susan Gaertner, Ramsey County attorney. "That trend has changed. There are more arrests, more cases are going to court and when found guilty, the sentences are tougher." The study found the average length of drug sentences was 50 months in 2002 compared with 23 months in 1988. Minnesota sends drug offenders to prison for smaller amounts of drugs than most other Midwestern states, and state judges frequently hand out downward departures from the sentencing guidelines, according to the study. The high rate of downward departures raises "questions as to the appropriateness of the presumptive sentences," according to the report. Possible alternatives to reducing the numbers of drug offenders in prison, the study found, include reducing the number of drug offenders sentenced to prison and reducing the length of the sentences. The current inmate populate in Minnesota is about 7,000 and is expected to rise to about 9,500 by the end of the decade. Gaertner said changes need to be made while making sure serious drug offenders go to prison. "No one is suggesting that we get soft on drug users," Gaertner said. "But we need to analyze our important use of prison space." |
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