Appleton Prison Proposal Faces Pushback From Faith Leaders, BLM
ST. Paul, Minn. (AP) -- Republicans pushed legislation though a committee on Tuesday to re-open a privately run prison in western Minnesota despite repeated interruptions from protesters who briefly halted debate as they pushed lawmakers to instead consider ways to decrease the state's prison population.
GOP lawmakers have targeted the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton — and its 1,600 beds — as a way to ease Minnesota's overcrowded prisons. State-run facilities are at capacity, and the state Department of Corrections has pushed 500 inmates into county jails.
The Minnesota House's Republican-controlled public safety committee approved a bill that would re-open the Appleton prison, which closed amid budget cuts in 2010. The bill calls for the facility to be run by the state, though it would still be owned by the nation's largest for-profit prison operator.
The party-line vote came over objections from protesters who argued that black residents would be inordinately housed there and urged lawmakers to instead examine how to reduce the number of Minnesota inmates.
"I don't understand why we think it's OK to build revenue off of black and brown bodies," said Toya Woodland, a Roseville minister who helped lead protesters' disruptions.
The fight reflects the wide political divide — exacerbated by election-year pressures — over how to handle Minnesota's overcrowded prisons.
DFL lawmakers have pushed to expand a looming set of reductions to major drug sentences that could free up hundreds of prison beds in the next decade. But Republicans, who control the House, have vowed to block them. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has suggested earmarking millions of dollars to expand existing prisons rather than re-open Appleton's facility or build new ones.
Republican Rep. Tim Miller, who represents the Appleton area, stressed that the prison would be leased and operated by the state. But opponents note it would still be owned by Corrections Corporation of America, which ran the facility before it closed. The panel rejected a Democrat-led attempt to ban the state from using privately owned prisons.
Miller and other advocates from the Appleton region argued that re-opening the facility would create up to 350 jobs in a financially struggling community. They also say the prison would offer counseling and other programs designed to reduce recidivism that aren't available in county jails.
"We are not asking the state to incarcerate more people. We are asking you to house them in an environment that will provide the services they need," said Vicki Oakes of the Ortonville Economic Development Authority
Oakes and other people who testified during the hearing were repeatedly cut short by protesters who interrupted from the crowd, saying the re-opening of the Appleton prison would be an immoral outrage and a "form of slavery." Committee chairman Rep. Tony Cornish closed the hearing for about 30 minutes following the outbursts.
Woodland said she's not sure if the interruptions would ultimately aid in their goal of blocking the re-opening.
"We don't know if it helped, but we know that we got someone's attention," she said after the hearing was halted. "It might not have been the people in this room, but it could have been the Senate and the governor."
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