State Supreme Courts Resource

5 Democrats, 2 Republicans

• MINN. CONST., Art. I, § 5 (“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted.”) (“cruel” and “unusual” interpreted separately, but according to Berry, end result is similar)

• Kariniemi v. City of Rockford, 882 N.W.2d 593, 603 n.15 (Minn. 2016) (“Although we have rejected the notion that “federal immunity principles under section 1983 also control state law,” … , we have noted that “federal decisions interpreting qualified immunity under section 1983, though certainly not conclusive, are instructive … because section 1983 qualified immunity and common law official immunity further the same purpose.”) (quoting Elwood v. Rice County, 423 N.W.2d 671, 678 (Minn. 1988)).

• LENGTH, BASIS, CONDITIONS: Minnesota’s legislation allows for placement in disciplinary segregation only for a prisoner who poses a “serious threat.”10 The bill requires notification to the Commissioner of Correction for placement longer than 30 days, mental health screening within 24 hours of placement, and daily wellness rounds by health services staff. The law also requires living conditions “approximate” to those provided in general population; the statute also mandates that lighting in cells be reduced at night.
• DATA: annual reporting to the legislature beginning in 2020 and annually thereafter
  of “(1) the number of inmates in each institution placed in segregation during the past year;
  (2) the ages of inmates placed in segregation during the past year; (3) the number of inmates
  transferred from segregation to the mental health treatment unit; (4) disciplinary sanctions
  by infraction; (5) the lengths of terms served in segregation, including terms served
  consecutively; and (6) the number of inmates by race in restrictive housing.”
  10 SF 8, 2019 Leg., 1st Special Sess. (Minn. 2019).

• Minnesota SF 2625 An act relating to public safety, 2019 –20 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2019), https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF2625&b=senate&y=2019&ssn=0 Status: Did not pass before session ended; in Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, March 21, 2019 Summary: Would allocate funds to implement restrictive housing reforms to reduce misconduct and comply with federal and accreditation standards.

• MINN. STAT. ANN. §§ 243.23, subd. 3(8), 243.241, 244.035, 563.02 (2000 & West SuPP. 2002)