A new Minnesota law went into effect on Aug. 1 that allows county prosecutors to initiate sentence reductions after sentencing for offenders they’ve previously prosecuted.
You read that right.
The provision titled “prosecutor-initiated sentence adjustment” was passed in the last session by the DFL-controlled legislature as part of an omnibus judiciary and public safety bill. The provision was part of a sprawling bill that also contained measures to cap probation at five years for most felony offenses (which will take effect retroactively), as well as allowing the Department of Corrections to further reduce inmate sentences through special programming.
It appears Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office is wasting no time getting started on the offender sentence reduction project.
University of St. Thomas law Professor Mark Osler announced on X/Twitter on Monday that he’s taking a one-year leave of absence from St. Thomas to take a position in Moriarty’s office as Deputy Hennepin County Attorney and Director of the Criminal Division.
Osler said in his post that part of his work with the HCAO will entail “work to establish prosecutor-initiated resentencing [PIR].”
It will be a pleasure to work with @MaryMoriarty , supervise four groups of excellent prosecuting attorneys, work to establish prosecutor-initiated resentencing, and make some of the hard decisions I have been telling students about for the last 23 years.
— Mark Osler (@Oslerguy) August 14, 2023
The new law specifies that under PIR, prosecutors can review cases at any time after sentencing at their discretion and shall only engage in downward adjustments to offenders’ sentences:
“The prosecutor responsible for the prosecution of an individual convicted of a crime may commence a proceeding to adjust the sentence of that individual at any time after the initial sentencing provided the prosecutor does not seek to increase the period of confinement or, if the individual is serving a stayed sentence, increase the period of supervision.”
The language in PIR states that prior to filing a petition for a sentence reduction in the district court where the offender was sentenced, prosecutors “shall make a reasonable and good faith effort” to seek input from the offender’s victim(s) and should consider the impact the adjusted sentence would have on the victim.
The offenders themselves may make a request for a PIR review as may their supervising agent or the commissioner of corrections. However, the prosecutor is not required to respond to requests.
The sentence reduction law is kicking in after Moriarty has already come under severe public criticism since taking office last fall over her soft-on-crime approach toward young offenders, as well as for recently meeting with the Ricky Cobb family prior to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s findings in the fatal shooting case of Cobb late last month involving the Minnesota State Patrol.
Minnesota is one of only a handful of states in the country that has enacted prosecutor-initiated resentencing. Offenders seeking sentence reductions have historically been limited to going through the court of appeals to seek reductions based on alleged errors in prosecutors’ actions or the court process. PIR opens the door to sentence reductions outside of those strict limitations.
Moriarty and Ramsey County Attorney (RCA) John Choi both advocated for the change at the legislature. A statement on the RCA’s website states that Choi’s office plans to use the law “for a limited number of cases in appropriate circumstances.” Moriarty, a former public defender, previously told the Star Tribune that she plans at first to look at classification of cases as opposed to individuals. She also told the Star Tribune that she would not seek to resentence offenders she previously defended.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
