Issue Position: Diversity and Justice

Issue Position

Our diversity is our strength, but Minnesota's gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity are holding us back. Peaceful civil disobedience has often been the catalyst that moves society toward justice. We don't need additional penalties or threats to those who step forward to make change. The right to protest--and sometimes even to get arrested for it--strengthens our democracy.

The well-publicized police killings of African Americans and the killings of police officers have torn the bandage off an old and festering wound. We must create a culture and system that allow for fair and just treatment of all Minnesotans. Law enforcement officers have a tough job, but they must always be held to high and clear standards and accountable to the public.

We need a new standard for the use of force by law enforcement officials--as exists in other countries. Officers should be expected to control a situation without using deadly force except as a last resort. This means staying out of harm's way themselves unless there is an immediate threat to life.

Our civil forfeiture laws have been improved in recent years but still need reform. Police departments and prosecutors should never get to keep the proceeds from forfeiture, as they do now. This improper incentive only serves to erode trust in law enforcement.

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