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| Minn. House OKs Cutting Number of Prison Meals on Weekends |
| By Minneapolis Star-Tribune |
| Published: 05/02/2003 |
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Inmates in state prisons would lose one meal a day on weekends and holidays under a budget-cutting bill overwhelmingly approved April 22 by the House. The vote was 108 to 22. But the debate was not without controversy, as opponents argued that the $248,000 annual savings was a small dent in the state's overall budget woes and a step backward. 'The way we treat people in prison is going to affect the way they act when they get out,' said Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL-Minneapolis. 'If we treat them bad in prison, they are going to be even more predatory on the outside.' But bill sponsor Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said it sends the message that everyone's programs are on the table this year when it comes to budget cutting. Seifert, an administrator at Southwest State University in Marshall, noted that students on campus get two meals a day on weekends. 'If it's OK for college kids, I don't know why it's not OK for cop killers, murderers and rapists to go with two fewer meals on weekends,' he said. Seifert originally proposed cutting desserts for inmates but dropped that notion after state Corrections Department officials said dietary requirements would make it more costly to switch sweets with nutritional equivalents. Seifert said the Corrections Department already is experimenting with reduced food service on weekends at the St. Cloud prison and on holidays at the prison in Moose Lake. Under the bill, inmates would get brunch and dinner on those days. Special exemptions would be made for older prisoners and prisoners with health conditions such as diabetes. Juvenile centers and the women's prison in Shakopee also would be exempt. The Senate has yet to act on similar legislation. |
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