NEWS RELEASE
Rep. Sandra Feist
Minnesota House of Representatives
District 39B – 651-296-4331 – rep.sandra.feist@house.mn.gov
409 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marlee Schlegel
marlee.schlegel@house.mn.gov
(651) 296-9873
November 2, 2023
Rep. Sandra Feist Applauds Minnesota’s Recognition by Human Rights for Kids
SAINT PAUL, MINN. -- This week, Human Rights for Kids, a non-profit dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights for children in the U.S. criminal justice system, released its 2023 National State Ratings Report during a public webinar. The report rates each state on 12 categories of law to assess how well every state protects children's human rights. The report provides a comprehensive look at how each state treats children in the justice system based on universally accepted human rights standards from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The State of Minnesota received special recognition in the report as 2023’s most improved state. In just one year, Minnesota gained new credit in the report for reforming our felony murder statute, limiting solitary confinement, ending life without parole for kids, and creating a release safety valve for children serving lengthy prison sentences.
Rep. Sandra Feist (DFL – New Brighton) authored several pieces of legislation during the 2023 session contributing to Minnesota’s improvement, including ending the unconstitutional practice of juvenile life without parole and creating the new Office of Restorative Practices with accompanying grants to divert youth from the criminal legal system. She issued the following statement:
“This year Minnesota made great strides in how our legal systems treat youth. I’m incredibly proud of these achievements, in particular the expansion of funding for Youth Intervention Programs, the creation of an Office of Restorative Practices, and ending the unconstitutional practice of juvenile life without parole. We will continue this work to build a system that focuses on rehabilitation and meaningful accountability, rather than arbitrary punishment, so that all youth in Minnesota have an opportunity to achieve their full potential.”
A link to the webinar can be found here.
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