transforming justice

See related story about the January 19 House committee testimony for HF 25 January 16, 2023 — A group of

“Women naturally function more as a collective. There is power in numbers. When it is transactional, people who want to succeed think that dividing and conquering is how you do it. That is actually a colonized way of leading.”

We talked to Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL–District 49B) about the status of legislation focused on children and families.

It is rare for women who have graduated from the program to return to prison.

The combination of these payouts and police misconduct settlements is approaching $150 million dollars. That’s more than three fourths of what the MPD’s budget was in 2020.

While one in four people in Minnesota (and across the nation) has a criminal record, four in four have a criminal history: that is, we are all criminals — and we’re also so much more.

Data reveals the roots of why people are incarcerated — and indicates why prison might not be the solution.

“If you are imprisoned and you are innocent of a crime, you can imagine that it just compounds the trauma.”

I wish more people would be involved with this work and understand that people who commit crimes need help. We are not monsters.

Getting funded requires a culture shift in society, she says. “A recognition that incarceration does not work. We do not acknowledge the reality of where the harm is coming from.”

“It became clear to me that any program addressing the violence women had committed would also need to address the aggression and violence they had personally experienced.”

This ongoing series of conversations with Minnesota women about their engagement in politics was created as a collaboration between Amra