Advocates press St. Paul committee to add 'justice-impacted' as protected class; Minneapolis cited as precedent

At a St. Paul City Public Safety and Community Wellness Committee meeting, Paul Sullivan (organizer, ACLU of Minnesota) and Mauricio Ward (founder, JIVE) representing the Justice Equity Coalition urged the committee to consider recognizing “justice-impacted” status as a protected class in the city human-rights ordinance. The coalition argued such a change would shift the burden of justification to employers and landlords when they take adverse actions based on a person’s criminal record.

The nut graf: advocates said adding justice-impacted status would make it harder for employers and landlords to automatically disqualify applicants solely on the basis of arrest, charge, conviction or incarceration history; they cited Minneapolis’ recently adopted ordinance as a working model and described a fast-moving national effort to adopt similar protections.

Key points from presenters and staff

- Coalition case and scope: Paul Sullivan of the ACLU of Minnesota said the coalition’s core message is that “identity is power,” and…