MPR: Mainstreet Radio Special: Crime in Rural Minnesota

Mainstreet Radio Special:
Crime in Rural Minnesota
Midday broadcast from the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Rush City
Hosted by Rachel Reabe
Friday April 28, 2000

Hour One: Minnesota Prisons
Hour Two: Life After Prison

Hour One - Minnesota Prisons
Hour One in RealAudio 28.8

If you have a comment or question you'd like to ask of our guests, please send it to us and we'll consider it during the broadcast.

Minnesota's prison system is a study in extremes. With 6,000 inmates, the state claims one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country. But it also has a startling high percentage of black prisoners, three times the national average. Minnesota prison costs per inmate are among the highest in the nation, but it is also one of the safest systems.

We'll also discuss the latest innovations in security, design and programming at Minnesota's newest prison in Rush City. The $89 million facility opened in February with a capacity of 951 inmates.

Guests:

Corrections Commissioner Sheryl Ramstad Hvass
Representative Wes Skoglund, member of the Judiciary Committee
Rush City Warden Burt Mohs
Tom Johnson, director of the Council on Crime and Justice

Hour Two - Life After Prison
Hour Two in RealAudio 28.8

Life after prison can be complicated and challenging for former inmates. Community notification requirements make it very difficult for some sex offenders to find a place to live. Other convicted felons have a tough time finding jobs and housing. How do we balance the need for public safety with the right of former inmates to return to their communities? We'll talk about efforts to reintegrate offenders back into society and programs for monitoring and supervising them.

Guests:

Dan Cain, President of RS Eden, a program providing correctional and substance abuse services, and an ex-offender
Mark Carey, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Corrections
Dona Woltering, Reconnect program director for Amicus, a private, non-profit program which helps offenders and the community with issues related to the offender's community re-entry

Related Links

A Quiet Violence

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