If you have been convicted of criminal charges or agreed to a plea deal, you may find that probation is part of your sentencing agreement. Although probation terms will be unique to the individual and the offense they committed, there are really only two main types of probation in Minnesota. There’s probation to the court and probation to community corrections. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at both forms of probation in Minnesota. Probation To The Court Let’s start by examining probation to the court. This form of probation has fewer involved parties, and is generally applied to indiv ..read more

Minnesota lawmakers are hoping to greenlight a pilot project that would bring traffic enforcement cameras to Minneapolis and other metro-area communities. If lawmakers get their way, the four-year pilot program would authorize red light and speed cameras in areas near schools and areas deemed high-risk zones based on previous crash data. The cameras would be installed in Minneapolis, Mendota Heights and one county and city in the metro chosen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Lawmakers and city officials said the data collected by the cameras would help gather local intel on how t ..read more

Law enforcement officials in the east metro area will soon be getting specialized pickup trucks in order to have a better view into vehicles to help crack down on dangerous driving behaviors. The higher vantage point should allow police officers to more easily see if another driver is texting behind the wheel or failing to wear their seat belt. “We need to get creative in how we’re combating the unacceptable driving behaviors and rising deaths we’re seeing on our roads,” DPS’ Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson said in a statement. “People are dying because drivers are selfishly maki ..read more

A Minnesota lawmaker has issued a proposal that would make it legal for women to go topless in public if they so desire. The proposal comes on the heels of a ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals to uphold the conviction of a woman who was arrested and sentenced to 90 days in jail on an “indecent exposure” charge after going topless in a convenience store parking lot. “This to me seems really wrong,” Minnesota House Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura told The Star Tribune in regards to the conviction. “Particularly now, as we as a society are thinking differently about gender and gender identit ..read more

If you’ve been following our blog in recent months, you may be familiar with the name Stephanie Clark. As we detailed in past blogs, Clark was convicted of murder after a jury decided that her self-defense theory didn’t meet the needed threshold, as the jury had been instructed that the definition of “imminent threat” meant that there was an “immediate threat” on her life. Appelman Law Firm’s very own Eric Doolittle challenged those jury instructions, and the appellate court agreed. In their decision, the appellate court wrote, “the jury could have found that Clark was in imminent danger of gr ..read more

Minnesota lawmakers are considering increasing the penalties for “swatting,” which is when a person reports a fake emergency in order to get police, first responders and even swat teams to show up at a specific location. Swatting is oftentimes performed as a “prank” or in order to harass an individual. And while it is clearly a waste of resources, the act can easily turn deadly. The swatted individual has no idea that police or a swat team is descending on their residence, and law enforcement are only acting on a tip, so they may believe that the person is armed or dangerous. This can make for ..read more

Law enforcement will be committing extra resources to catch distracted drivers in Minnesota throughout the month of April, according to an update from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. “Scrolling through social media on your cell phone. Unwrapping that delicious cheeseburger. Checking that work email that someone just sent. Those are all fine — from the comfort of your couch. Behind the wheel? They could be deadly,” said the state Department of Public Safety in their message to Minnesota drivers. Distracted Driving A Major Issue According to the Department of Public Safety, distracted ..read more

At this moment in history, in a society where drug addiction and domestic abuse usually go hand-in-hand and ruin many people’s lives, there’s a pressing need for support and legal protection. Now more than ever, it’s what the experts note. The text you’re about to read will explore the crucial structure intended to protect and give support to individuals caught up in the terrifying reality of both substance abuse and domestic violence. It will traverse the often difficult terrain where law meets the intensely personal struggles against addiction and domestic unrest; we’ll talk about everything ..read more

According to data from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Uniform Crime Reports, the number of suspects assaulting and shooting at police officers has risen significantly in recent years. The report comes on the heels of last month’s shooting in Burnsville that left two Minnesota police officers dead after they were ambushed by a suspect with a gun. And while officer involved shootings have grown signficantly over the past couple years, the data suggests that these incidents are rarely fatal for the officer. Only 11 Minnesota police officers have died in the line of duty between 2004 and 20 ..read more

In an effort to protect children from some of the potentially dangerous sides of social media, lawmakers in Minnesota are considering banning what are known as “mommy run” accounts that profit off the involvement and exploitation of children in social media. An earlier version of the proposal did not ban these types of social media accounts. Instead, it proposed that Minnesota become the second state in the US behind Illinois to require parents who profit off social media videos featuring their children to share the money with their kids. However, after a series of stories published in the New ..read more