While Minnesota has the sixth lowest
incarceration rate in the nation, Minnesota’s community supervision rate is the
seventh highest. In addition, probation revocations represent a growing share of
prison admissions and are a key driver of Minnesota’s rising incarceration rate. Before
revoking probation, the court must make findings on the Austin factors, which require
the court to specifically identify the condition or conditions violated, find that the violation was intentional
or excusable, and find that the policies favoring probation no longer outweigh the need
for confinement. In this session, attendees will learn what considerations the prosecutor and defense should bring
to the proceeding. This session will place particular emphasis on the third Austin
factor and introduce the latest research about what works in probation, including
the risk-need-responsivity principle, which matches the level of supervision and conditions to the
probationer’s risk to reoffend and criminogenic needs.
This CLE is approved
for credit through April 30, 2020.
Panelists:
The four panelists for the presentation will include
different points of view from the position of a probation officer, a defense
attorney, a prosecutor and a researcher.
Erin Harbinson |
Research Fellow at Robina Institute
Erin Harbinson is a Research
Fellow at the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice. She
received her Ph.D. in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. Erin’s
dissertation examined the predictive validity of a correctional risk/needs
assessment on white-collar offenders. Erin’s research interests are risk
assessment, correctional policy, supervision and program effectiveness, and
white-collar crime. Prior to joining the Robina Institute, she worked at the
Council of State Governments Justice Center as a policy analyst, where she
provided technical assistance to states implementing justice reinvestment
legislation and data driven policies.
Jeff Edblad | Isanti County
Attorney
Jeff Edblad has served as the elected Isanti County
Attorney since 1994. He is an adjunct professor at Anoka Ramsey Community
College and has served as a faculty member for a number of trial advocacy
related courses for the National District Attorneys Association. Edblad served
as Chair of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 2007-15 and as a
member of the Commission from 2003-07. He served as the President of the
Minnesota County Attorneys Association in 2017.
Deb
Rambo-Bennett | Arrowhead Regional Corrections
Deb Rambo-Bennett is
a probation officer for Arrowhead Regional Corrections in the Duluth office. She
received her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology from the University of Minnesota
Duluth and a Master’s Degree in Forensic Mental Health from Concordia, St. Paul
where she specialized in risk assessment and recidivism. She has worked in
corrections since 2013 and has been a probation officer since 2015. She is
currently a Felony Plus probation officer which means she works with offenders
of all levels.
Susan L. Elias | 1st District Public
Defender
Susan Elias is a graduate of William Mitchell College of
Law. She has been a full-time public defender in the First Judicial District
since 2006, first in Dakota County, and in Goodhue County since 2015. Ms. Elias
is also a member of the public
defense
statewide DNA and forensics
workgroup.
Kelly Mitchell | Executive Director Robina
Institute
Kelly Lyn Mitchell is the Executive Director of the Robina
Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, and is also co-director of the
Institute’s Sentencing Guidelines Resource Center. Mitchell was the Executive
Director of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 2011 to 2014,
and has also served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of
Sentencing Commissions (NASC) since the fall of 2011. From 2001 to 2011 Mitchell
worked at the Minnesota Judicial Branch as a staff attorney and manager, where
she served as the Branch’s liaison to other criminal justice agencies and was
responsible for several statewide programs and services such as drug courts, the
court interpreter program, and examiner services for sex offender civil
commitment exams.
CLE
Credits:
2.0 Standard CLE Credits approved
| Event Code: 256952
Cost:
MSBA Members: $49.95
Non-MSBA Members:
$84.95