Close two of Minnesota’s aging prisons — Stillwater and St. Cloud

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As a former prisoner at Stillwater and a prisoner advocate, respectively, we know how important humane conditions are for incarcerated people, staff and the community. Like a recent Minnesota Office for the Ombuds for Corrections report notes, “crumbling infrastructure is creating a crisis in our prisons.”

But the answer is neither hundreds of millions of investments in our two ancient facilities, nor building a billion-dollar prison. The solution is to safely reduce the prison population to close these facilities, ending the staffing crisis and reinvesting savings to get public safety right.

The conditions in Stillwater are disturbing. One of us, Maurice — the CEO of Justice Impacted Individuals Voting Effectively (JIIVE) — puts it like this: “It can only be explained as living in a coffin not buried underground. I remember filling my garbage can with ice and making ice packets to place on my head. I remember it being so hot, I only got an hour of sleep. It would be so hot in those cells; I was scared to move. The walls would drip with sweat. I would move my mattress to the floor right next to the toilet and pray for a cool breeze.”

These conditions affect St. Cloud as well — and are already causing violence. Maurice again: “Cells were even more frustrating in St. Cloud because I had to double-bunk. Can you imagine being stuffed in a closet with another person and the temperature slowly going up to 120? I know people who would do stupid [stuff] just to go to [segregation], because SEG had AC. No joke.”

The conditions paint a disturbing picture of the state of Minnesota’s prisons, where basic human rights are often overlooked, oversight is toothless and living conditions resemble those of a medieval dungeon. Right now a whole unit in Stillwater is closed for lead paint contamination, yet that was unaddressed for decades. Water brought out by a prisoner shows men in Stillwater must drink water with manganese 400% above the health guideline for adults.

What do our political leaders think about these facilities? Recently, a high-level Republican on the Public Safety Committee told the other one of us, David, that “Stillwater and St. Cloud prisons are Minnesota’s Alcatraz. They need to close.” He said while truly dangerous people need to be in prison, a torture box was counterproductive. Another higher-level Democratic Public Safety member told me retiring outdated prisons was “a dream.”

So key people in both parties, and the Office of the Ombuds for Corrections — which can receive and investigate complaints independently of the Department of Corrections — know that these facilities, Minnesota’s Alcatrazes, should be closed. The governor’s bonding bill doesn’t address heat, safety or air conditioning at these facilities — and that’s OK. Let’s not waste hundreds of millions extending their life, over $245 million in deferred maintenance for the Stillwater prison alone.

Because closing two of Minnesota’s 11 prisons, accounting for 2,200 of Minnesota’s 8,500 prisoners, isn’t just a problem — it’s an opportunity.

Not an opportunity to build more prisons. An opportunity to safely reduce the prison population, therefore having more resources for fewer incarcerated people. If done right, that means higher success rates, increasingly fewer incarcerated people — and more and more safety and resources to reinvest in our communities to prevent crime.

After all, do we need people in prison:

• If they are of low risk to commit a new crime? That’s 37% of our current population, or 2,668 people, 1,400 of them eligible but unable to access work release to work or go to college in the community, paying taxes and increasing safety.

• If they are seriously and persistently mentally ill? That’s 9.7%, or 787 people.

• If they are eligible for good time release now under the new law? That’s roughly or 6.25%, or 500 people.

• For petty noncriminal violations of supervision? That’s roughly 6%, or 465 people.

• If they are elderly, terribly sick or disabled? That’s roughly 5%, or 400 people.

The point being, there are far more people who should not be in prison in Minnesota right now than the beds needed to allow Stillwater and St. Cloud to close.

Reinvesting the hundreds of millions saved into re-entry, rehabilitation, community support and prevention, including for victims, will create more safety than keeping these ancient facilities open. It would also end any existing staffing crisis, a key goal for staff and a barrier to more humane prisons.

The call to action is clear — it is time to close the doors of these outdated and inhumane facilities and pave the way for a more humane and effective approach to incarceration started in the many reforms passed by the Legislature last year.

Key members of both parties know it’s time to close Minnesota’s Alcatrazes. We as the public should demand it.

As a former prisoner and a prisoner advocate, we know that safely closing these prisons through strategic reductions and reinvestments is an opportunity to get public safety right.