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TOUGH NEW CRIME LAW SOON TAKES EFFECT

The tough new crime law recently passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by the Governor will go into effect in four weeks. The law invests $1.7 billion into public safety measures, and increases penalties for some of the worst criminals in the state. Representative Joe Atkins was a leading contributor to this important legislation, authoring provisions to toughen restrictions on sex offenders, meth pushers, and steroid dealers.

“This bill is a real landmark in public safety legislation," Rep. Atkins said. “It will keep the worst criminals behind bars, improve controls on those that must be released, and help to prevent crimes from being committed. This all means safer communities for us and for our kids.”

Several of the most important sections of the bill stiffen restrictions and increase penalties for sex offenders. High profile cases in recent years have heightened awareness of this issue, most notably the murder of Dru Sjodin and the Dakota County arrest of Justin Farnsworth for abusing his girlfriend’s daughter.

Under the new law, the worst sex offenders will be in prison for life, without the possibility of release. This includes offenders who murder their victims, repeat first-degree offenders, and those who torture and brutalize their victims. These criminals are considered particularly dangerous to be released because of the high rate of repeat offending in addition to the particularly violent nature of their crimes.

The law also takes dramatic steps to control lesser sex offenders who must be released back into the community. Many of them will be required to submit to regular polygraph tests, wear monitoring bracelets, and be photographed twice per year, to prevent them from disguising their identity by changing their appearance. Finally, an important measure authored by Rep. Atkins addresses the circumstances leading to the Farnsworth case by disallowing sex offenders from being granted custody of unrelated children.

In 2004, Justin Farnsworth, a 31-year-old convicted sex offender from Hastings, petitioned for custody of his ex-girlfriend’s nine-year-old daughter. After the nine-year-old’s mother agreed and a court-appointed evaluator deemed Farnsworth a good father, a Dakota County district court judge awarded Farnsworth custody in October.

Three weeks later, Farnsworth was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal assault for molesting the girl. Farnsworth pled guilty to the charges two weeks ago. He had previously been convicted of third-degree felony sexual assault for raping a 13-year-old girl. He served six months in jail followed by 10 years of probation and sex offender treatment.

“We need to do all we can to protect kids from these dangerous people,” Rep. Atkins said. “This law helps us deny sex offenders access to potential victims. I really wish this law wasn’t necessary, but the recent case in Hastings shows that it is. There are few things more important for our society than keeping our children away from those who would harm them.”

The new crime law also takes significant steps to address the methamphetamine epidemic in Minnesota. This dangerous new drug has been found in communities throughout the state. It has been particularly hard to control because it can be easily produced from certain typical household chemicals.

The new law takes important steps to control access to these chemicals, most importantly pseudoephedrine, and common drug for colds and flu found in such products as Sudafed. These drugs must now be places behind the counter in drug stores. In addition, buyers must now be 18 years of age, must sign a log of the purchase, and cannot buy more than 6 grams in any 30-day period. These measures have been found to greatly reduce the production of meth in other states.

Rep. Atkins introduced an amendment to the meth provisions that makes the law the strongest of its kind in the country. As originally drafted, the law would have applied only to pseudoephedrine tablets, but under the Atkins Amendment the law will also apply to gel caps and liquids, if it is found that meth makers turn to those forms of pseudoephedrine when tablets become unavailable on store shelves. The amendment passed on a nearly unanimous vote and became part of the bill.

Until Rep. Atkins looked into the issue himself, it was widely believed by Minnesota lawmakers that meth could not be made from gel caps and liquids containing pseudoephedrine. Rep. Atkins became aware of the issue when he examined what other states had done.

“The Arkansas meth law just went into effect three weeks ago and within a week it was reported that meth could be made from gel caps and liquids,” said Rep. Atkins. “Without accounting for gel caps and liquids, our new meth law was in danger of being obsolete before it even went into effect.”

Rep. Atkins learned from Arkansas crime lab officials that making meth from gel caps requires a few extra steps and takes as little as an hour. “Taking away tablets from meth makers without taking away gel caps and liquids is like taking away guns from a serial killer but letting him keep knives. It isn’t effective,” Rep. Atkins said on the House floor.

In addition to stepping up controls on meth, Rep. Atkins also authored provisions in the new law increasing penalties for dealers of illegal performance enhancing drugs. The law attacks the steroid problem in several ways. First, it creates tougher penalties for selling steroids, especially to minors – up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. It also updates Minnesota’s existing law, which prohibits only about 10% of the steroids currently on the market. Finally, it would bring Minnesota into conformance with federal law on the subject, making enforcement of steroids laws easier.

“We need to make sure that we are teaching our children about the values of good health and fair play,” Rep. Atkins said, “and getting rid of steroids is an important part of that.”

Anabolic steroids are highly dangerous drugs, especially for young adults and teens. Used illegally by athletes to increase muscle size and strength and to enhance performance, there are myriad side effects. These can include heart, liver and kidney failure, depression, paranoia, impotence, stunted growth, and uncontrollable anger commonly called “Roid Rage.”

Rep. Atkins finds all of this profoundly disturbing. “These are people that our kids admire and look up to,” he said. “Our greatest fear would be that our children would look at all of this and start to believe that cheating and harming their bodies through steroids is acceptable, or the only way to accomplish what their heroes have accomplished.”

The Crime Law also addresses a wide variety of other public safety concerns. This includes helping law enforcement agencies by increasing reimbursements for bulletproof vests and by making it a crime to flee from a police officer on foot. The law also takes new steps to reign in gang violence, by increasing penalties for gang members who commit crimes against children. The new law also combats identity theft. Bipartisan provisions in the bill outlaw common practices used to steal personal information, and stiffen sentences and fines.