ON CRIME, LIBERALS STILL DON’T GET IT

Across the country, Americans are up in arms about spiraling crime rates. Minnesota is one state that has been hit with an explosion of criminal activity in the wake of the George Floyd riots and the attacks on law enforcement that followed. You might think that even liberal politicians would understand that voters want them to get tough on crime, but in my state at least, you would be wrong.

Out of the public eye–where leftists usually like to operate–Minnesota’s Sentencing Guidelines Commission is considering a proposed revision to the state’s guidelines that would change the way in which convicted criminals are sentenced.

Eight of the eleven commissioners have been appointed by Minnesota’s far-left governor, Tim Walz. So, is sentencing going to be toughened? Of course not! The proposal is to make Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines, already absurdly permissive, even more liberal.

My colleague Bill Walsh explains:

The presumptive sentences are displayed in a grid that is used by judges to determine the appropriate sentence once someone is convicted of a felony. The y-axis on the grid refers to the severity level of the crime, from low-level assault (1) all the way to murder (11). The x-axis refers to the criminal history score of the perpetrator.