New state corrections commissioner visits North Minneapolis
Criminal justice advocate Kevin Reese, left, listens as Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell addresses the crowd at a community conversation about incarceration at Shiloh Temple on Jan. 9. Photos by Abdi Mohamed
As part of a community engagement tour, Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell spoke to Northsiders about his vision for the role they play in the rehabilitation process.
By Abdi Mohamed Staff Reporter
In the time since his release from prison, Kevin Reese has been passionate about becoming a solution for his community. Undeterred by the fourteen years he spent behind bars, Reese, who now works for Voices for Racial Justice, hopes to continue engaging in Minnesota’s prison reform conversation.
Reese and other prison reform activists aim to change narratives about imprisonment and the people serving time. “I wasn’t born a criminal. I was born poor and because I was poor, I had to figure out some creative ways to eat,” Reese said. “Where I was from some of the creative ways to eat, the powers that be got to call those things crime.”
Reese shared his story at an event called “Shifting the Culture Around Imprisonment” held at the Shiloh Temple in North Minneapolis on Jan 9. Dozens of community members, activists and local officials came together to discuss the challenges of incarceration in the state and their possible solutions.
The event was cohosted by Peace of Hope Inc. Founder and CEO Sharon Brooks Green, a local activist and author of On the Other Side of the Wall: How to survive your loved one’s incarceration. Green’s son is serving time in prison, and she hopes to address the troubles that people may face when navigating the system. “I’d like our state to put a bigger spotlight on the plight of families of the imprisoned. We bear a burden when our loved ones are incarcerated,” Green said.
Peace of Hope CEO Sharon Brooks Green, left, connects with Commissioner Paul Schnell at the end of a community conversation about prison reform.
Reese and Green sat on a panel with Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell and discussed ways the state could better serve inmates and those in the community who are there to pick up the pieces upon their release. New to his role, Commissioner Schnell has organized several community engagement events to understand what questions and concerns Minnesotans have with the way the DOC is run. Attendees shared concerns about the costs of goods in jail along with strict visitation rules that may revoke a loved one’s ability to visit.
The dialogue at Shiloh takes place in the midst of a national shift in conversation about prison reform. Congress and the White House have moved to pass measures that reduce the sentences for nonviolent crimes. The commissioner pointed to both fiscal and social justice agendas leading these changes. “Whatever path you take, it gets us to the fact that we can’t keep doing this anymore,” Schnell said.
Deputy Commissioner Michelle Smith was in attendance and spoke to the role that the support system in a community might play in rehabilitating an inmate outside of the prison system. This support system would come in the form of the person’s immediate family, but branch out into areas of treatment, housing and economic support. The insecurity of resources serves as a central cause for some former inmates to return to prison according to Smith. “We can some way get to a point where we can reduce the population and shift that funding to the community,” she said.
Well known for his pushes for criminal justice reform, State Representative (59B) Raymond Dehn spoke about his legislative goals. Dehn pointed to the idea that having former inmates living constructive and productive lives rather than continuously or indefinitely locking them up leads to a safer public. Dehn also identified the cost of incarceration as a possible common ground for both sides of the House and Senate to make a change around imprisonment in Minnesota. Each inmate costs the state approximately $40,000 a year according to Commissioner Schnell.
Having been granted a pardon for a burglary conviction in 1982, Dehn stressed the need of increasing the number of pardons in the state. “The number of people receiving pardons through the official process has been reduced over the past few decades. Hopefully we can change that,” he said.
Reese walked away from the event optimistic about the potential for change. He saw everyone in attendance as being accountable for their words and committed to delivering on their promises. “We didn’t leave here with anything definite. The only thing we left here tonight with was a conversation,” he said. “From this conversation, everybody will be held accountable for what their role will be to make a difference.”