Crime and punishment
Will Minnesotans Support the Firearms Freedom Act?
Minnesota Republican State Representative Tom Emmer (19B-Delano) introduced legislation in the House on Thursday that seeks to restrict the reach of federal firearms laws by exempting Minnesota-made firearms and ammunition that remain in the state from federal laws and regulations,…
Read More‘Darfur 5’ in Little Jeopardy of Losing Congressional Seats
The arrest of Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and four other members of Congress Monday morning for crossing a police line at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. brought front-page attention to the humanitarian crisis and atrocities occurring in the Darfur…
Read MoreMinneapolis Crime Rates Continue to Fall as Unemployment Rises
As unemployment rises month-by-month in Minneapolis, along with the rest of the Gopher State, serious violent and property crimes continue to fall in Minnesota’s most populated city at an impressive rate. Minneapolis’ non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent in…
Read MoreWhy MinnPost’s Plea for Forgiveness of Minnesota’s Famous Fugitive Is Unfounded
In his recent column, “What happened to the concept of forgiveness in the Sara Jane Olson case?,” MinnPosts’ Doug Grow, in just a shade over 1,000 words, not only advocates for the return of convicted felon Sara Jane Olson (née…
Read MoreMarijuana Arrests Decline As Legislative Support for Medicinal Use Builds
A bipartisan group of Minnesota legislators made an impassioned plea last week, hoping to build political momentum for the legalization of medical marijuana in the Gopher State. While neither Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher nor GOP Minority Leader Marty Seifert have…
Read MoreHow Bad Are Things In Minnesota, Really?
From the rising unemployment numbers to the state budget crisis, the news in Minnesota seems to be getting worse and worse. Adding insult to injury came the recent news last week that Minneapolis ranked as the fourth least desirable metropolitan…
Read MoreCrime and the Minnesota Economy Revisited: Brace for Property Crime Surge
At about the same time Smart Politics posited the question as to what effect, if any, the rising unemployment rate and economic downturn would have on the state’s violent crime rate, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office issued a press release…
Read MoreWill Violent Crime in Minnesota Increase Along With the Jobless Rate?
The news released on Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that Minnesota’s unemployment rate had reached 6.4 percent, prompted Smart Politics to examine how the current jobless trend, and specifically the large rate of job loss,…
Read MoreGun Ownership Upper Midwestern Snapshot
The mass murders at Virginia Tech University this week have inspired those in gun control circles to renew their pressure on politicians to reexamine our nation’s gun laws; it has also caused 2nd Amendment strict constructionists to dig in deeper…
Read MoreDeath Penalty Debate Continues in Wisconsin
Even though Democratic Governor Jim Doyle has resolved to veto any legislation coming out of Madison that supports the introduction of the death penalty in the Badger State, seven Republican Assemblymen sponsored a bill on Wednesday that would execute “vicious”…
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