by Hayley Feland
A newly released report from the Center of the American Experiment (CAE) challenges the narrative that Minnesota’s criminal justice system is racially biased against black offenders.
According to the report, titled “Case Closed: Minnesota’s Offender Outcomes Devoid of Racial Bias,” black offenders reportedly face more favorable outcomes in the system compared to white offenders across various stages, including incarceration.
Authored by David Zimmer, a policy fellow with CAE and a former captain with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the report analyzed 2022 crime data from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
“Good public policy depends on a clear-eyed view of data, and the data in this report shows there are no unwarranted racial disparities in Minnesota’s criminal justice system when it comes to serious crimes,” said Zimmer. “Dispelling this myth will lead to better safety outcomes for all Minnesotans, especially law-abiding black citizens who suffer from above-average victimization rates.”
The report addressed sentencing disparities, noting that in 2022, black offenders serving prison sentences for serious crimes averaged 76.56 months compared to 66.34 months for white offenders.
Zimmer attributed this 10.22-month difference to behavioral factors, not race. The report found that black offenders averaged 1.22 points higher on the offense severity scale, where even a single-point increase significantly raises sentencing. Those offenders also had 0.37 more criminal history points on average, further increasing sentence severity.
Additionally, the report explained that black offenders were 3.7 times more likely to use a dangerous weapon or possess a firearm, which triggered mandatory minimum sentences. The report concluded that these criteria logically explain the disparity, as they reflect behavior rather than racial bias.
The analysis further distinguished between racial “disproportions,” which it acknowledges in crime rates, and unwarranted racial “disparities,” which it argues do not exist in Minnesota’s justice system for serious crimes. Zimmer said that if the system was biased against black Minnesotans, the black-to-white offender ratio would worsen as cases progressed through the system. Instead, the data showed the ratio often became more favorable to black offenders.
The report critiqued policies that are based on the assumption of systemic racial bias, saying that those policies reduce accountability for black offenders and ultimately harm black communities.
“It is time for policymakers to recognize that Minnesota’s criminal justice system is not creating unwarranted ‘disparities’ disfavoring black offenders. Responding as if it does, and altering the system to reduce accountability for black offenders, is a misguided effort,” the report reads. “It is one that harms the black community in the present while it derails, delays, and underfunds efforts to apply long-term solutions toward the social disparities that fuel the disproportionate amount of black criminality and black victimization.”
Zimmer argued that policy reforms should instead address the “drivers” of crime, including familial issues, a lack of education, high unemployment, and low homeownership rates. He cautioned that focusing solely on reforms to reduce disparities without enforcing consequences for criminal behavior would continue to perpetuate high crime rates and victimization within black communities.
“This misguided focus on unwarranted racial disparities derails long-term efforts to address social disparities driving crime and victimization,” the report concluded.
The report, analyzing the 2022 data, is an expansion on a report released last year by CAE.
– – –
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
