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Commission debates defining “public safety” in sentencing guidelines; experts propose adding language to avoid penalties that raise recidivism risk
Summary
Professor Kevin Wright told the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission on Feb. 13 that the commission could clarify "public safety" in the guidelines — suggesting definitions that include rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation and reintegration — and consider adding language to avoid sanctions that research links to greater future criminality.
Professor Kevin R. Wright of the University of Minnesota Law School returned to the Sentencing Guidelines Commission to propose options for revising guidelines language that would clarify the meaning of "public safety" and acknowledge unintended consequences of certain sanctions.
Wright told the commission that Minnesota’s current sentencing statute and the guidelines identify public safety and proportionality as lead purposes but contain no operational definition of public safety. He presented a 50-state review and the Model Penal Code’s approach and said states commonly define public safety to include deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation of dangerous offenders and reintegration of people returning to the community.
“Public safety could be defined to embrace the rehabilitation of…
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