“250 Years”: How We Could Reduce Crime Better
End Slavery Coalition rally, May 5, Minnesota Capitol (all photos by Sarah Whiting)
At a May 5 rally at the State Capitol, the End Slavery in Minnesota Coalition, led by executive director Chauntyll Allen, gathered with labor leaders, advocates, and legislators to talk about the need for bills to end legal slavery in Minnesota. The Coalition points out that the prison system is not enabling its population to prepare for post-incarceration, in part because it demeans prisoners by requiring them to work for 25 cents per hour.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime. Prisoners can be required to work for local and state governments by those seeking cheap labor. Since 2018, eight states — including Alabama and Tennessee — have removed this loophole from its state constitution.
The Coalition is asking Minnesota to become the first state to pay incarcerated workers fair wages with employee protections, which will enable them to provide for their families, themselves, and return to society with a higher likelihood of not returning to prison through gainful employment.
A bill proposed in 2023 by Senator Bobby Jo Champion and Representative Dave Pinto aimed to eliminate the loophole in the Minnesota constitution, prohibiting involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. The “Bill to End Slavery in Minnesota,” authored by state Senator Clare Oumou-Verbeten and Representative Cedric Frazier, would reclassify people in prison as employees and end forced labor while ensuring minimum wage and basic employee protections. The legislation outlines how wages will be disbursed, including savings accounts for workers.
Oumou Verbeten has worked to enable incarcerated people and their families to have free phone calls. She also has worked to offer financial compensation to families of someone who was wrongfully incarcerated. She noted at the rally: “We have a real opportunity with this [upcoming legislative] election to get people into the people’s house who actually represent their values. Keep building to bring people in.”
Rep. Cedrick Frazier, End Slavery Coalition director Chauntyll Allen, Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten (photo by Sarah Whiting)
Who Is in Minnesota Prisons, and Why?
According to Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) data,
- 20 percent of the 8,277 people in prison in 2025 were convicted of homicide (1,666)
- nearly 20 percent were incarcerated for criminal sexual conduct (1,637).
- 15 percent of the 8,277 people in prison in 2025 were incarcerated for drug offenses (1,246), particularly related to methamphetamines.
photo by Sarah Whiting
According to a DOC fact sheet:
- On July 1, 1990, 276 individuals were incarcerated in Minnesota state correctional facilities with a governing offense involving the sale, manufacture, possession, or possession with intent to distribute drugs. This was nine percent of the overall prison population.
- On July 1, 2005, individuals sentenced for drug crimes accounted for 25 percent of Minnesota’s adult incarcerated population.
- On July 1, 2025, the 1,192 individuals with governing drug offenses accounted for 17.2 percent of the overall prison population.
- Most of the drug-offense population (72.3 percent) are serving a sentence from outside the seven-county metropolitan area, due in part to the large percentage (7 percent) with methamphetamine offenses from Greater Minnesota. All of those incarcerated for manufacturing drugs were manufacturing methamphetamine.
- 8 percent of individuals incarcerated for an offense involving methamphetamine had a previous incarceration, while for marijuana the figure was 66.7 percent.
The Benefits of a Supported Prison Population
photo by Sarah Whiting
According to the Coalition, if incarcerated Minnesotans are given a living wage, with jobs that can lead to gainful employment when leaving the prison system, it strengthens the community in the long term. They indicated that 91 percent of the prison population have at least a high school diploma, and 39 percent have a post-secondary certification of degree. Increasing gainful employment and wages will increase the state’s tax revenue and make communities safer.
As cited on the Coalition website: “Minnesota can lead the nation in transforming corrections from a revolving door of control and exploitation to a pathway to rehabilitation and lasting prosperity for our communities.”
Minnesota Department of Corrections research show that support to help people find livable wage jobs after release reduces the rate of recidivism by 27 to 66 percent, and that participation in work release programs reduces reincarceration by 17 percent, increases the odds of employment after release by eight times, and produces $1.25 million in increased tax revenue and reduced prison cost.
Darla Holland, a campaign leader with the End Slavery coalition, indicated at the rally that while imprisoned for two years, she folded balloons for Disney for 50 cents per hour — balloons that Disney sold for more than she made in a day. That also limited her ability to send money to her children at home. After this cheap labor work became public, Disney canceled its contract and 100 incarcerated people lost their jobs.
That was not the purpose of being public about the work contract, she said. “If incarcerated people were recognized as workers with rights and protections, there would have been conversations, negotiations, and solutions.
“We must create systems that allow people to rebuild and rehabilitate. Just like poverty can drive crime, deprivation inside prison creates that same cycle. When you have nothing, you do what you have to do to survive. Survival mode is not rehabilitation.”
photo by Sarah Whiting
Jess Palyan, policy manager for Violence Free Minnesota, noted that families send incarcerated people money to “keep them fed, to keep them clean, to keep them dignified in prison. … While the problems faced by victims are not the exact same thing as the problems faced by incarcerated people, similar systems of oppression and control are keeping these people stuck in a relationship that is not helping them grow, not helping them heal, and not helping them achieve independence, safety, and dignity.”
The final speaker, Carlos Smith, a Coalition campaign leader, shared that as a 19-year-old, “still a kid in many ways, still trying to understand who I was,” he was incarcerated for 32 years and three months. While imprisoned, he worked on an assembly line. When he left prison, he had $500.
“Can you rebuild your life with that? … Fair wages aren’t just about money, but creating opportunities to create real transformation, letting us come out with enough to stand on our own two feet. I’m here today because I transformed my thinking. I put in the necessary work. But no one should have to [build] their entire life from scratch after giving decades of free labor in prison. If we say we believe in second chances, then we have to build systems that make second chances real.”
What Reduces Crime?
photo by Sarah Whiting
The nonpartisan Brennan Center does research and analysis related to legal and policy issues. It estimates that nearly 40 percent of the U.S. prison population, or 576,000 people, are behind bars for little or no public safety reason. A 2015 report, What Caused the Crime Decline?, noted that social and economic factors had a more significant impact on public safety than incarceration.
FWD.US is nonprofit team focused on data and policies to support reform of U.S. criminal justice and immigration systems. In the U.S., they report, mass incarceration costs $89 billion in taxpayer dollars per year, which could be put to better use in addressing roots causes of crime. For example, they note that evidence suggests drivers of gun violence correlate with increases in unemployment and access to guns.
Research over decades “has repeatedly shown that incarceration is among the least effective and most expensive approaches to crime prevention.”
photo by Sarah Whiting
FWD.US reports the impact of social services on crime reduction:
- Medicaid Expansion (20-32 percent reduction in arrests): A study analyzing the first three years of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion found it produced a 20–32 percent reduction in overall arrest rates, particularly for drug and violent crimes, compared to non-expansion counties.
- Supportive Housing (40 percent reduction in arrests): A randomized control trial of the Denver Social Impact Bond (SIB) program showed that providing supportive housing to individuals with frequent justice system contact resulted in a 40 percent reduction in arrests and a 34 percent reduction in police contacts.
- Neighborhood Repairs (22 percent reduction in homicides): A multi-year study in Philadelphia found that providing home repair grants to low-income homeowners was associated with a nearly 22 percent reduction in homicides, while cleaning up vacant lots (a CPTED strategy) was linked to a 30 percent reduction in gun violence.
- Youth Summer Jobs (23 percent reduction in felony arrests): A New York City study found that participating in a summer jobs program decreased young people’s risk of any arrest by 17 percent and the chance of a felony arrest by 23 percent during the program.
To support our “250 Years” series that analyzes where we have been, and where we could go to build a healthier society:
For 2025 coverage, Minnesota Women’s Press earned a community leadership award, three photography awards, and four editorial awards, including for coverage of social issues and for our Spring 2025 “Know Your Rights” special section supported by Unidos MN. Our publisher was named Journalist of the Year by Violence Free Minnesota for gender-based violence coverage.
