This CLE is co-sponsored by the MSBA Criminal Law Section and the
Robina Institute’s In
Conversation Series*.
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.
* Located at the University of
Minnesota Law School, the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice
is a mission-driven organization dedicated to engaging in original,
interdisciplinary education, research, and policy analysis to achieve
transformative change in sentencing and correctional policies and practices. The
Robina Institute's In Conversation Series are public events
dedicated to exploring issues in criminal justice in an in-depth and
conversational way. We invite leading experts - practitioners, community
members, academics, judges - to present information about a leading topic and to
engage in conversation with each other. We then continue that discussion with
questions and comments from the audience.
Speakers:
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.
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. She also managed research projects for the University of
Cincinnati Corrections Institute and assisted criminal justice agencies with the
implementation of evidence-based practices by evaluating correctional programs
and conducting training for correctional staff on risk assessment, core
correctional practices, and effective programming. 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.
Prosecutor | 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. Additionally, Edblad was honored in 2014 with the
Outstanding Greater Minnesota Prosecutor award from Mothers Against Drunk
Driving, in 2011 with the Cambridge-Isanti School District 911 Friend of
Education Award, in 2009 with the MCAA Johnson Distinguished Service award, and
in 2008 with the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Julius E. Gernes Prosecutor
Award of Excellence.
Probation Officer | 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.
Defense Attorney | Erin Carey | 1st District Public Defender
Erin Carey graduated law school from William Mitchell School of
Law in 2007. After working as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Richard C.
Perkins in Carver County, she was hired as a full-time public defender in
the 1st District in Dakota County but have been working mainly out of Carver
County for the past four years. She has worked in public defense for nearly a
decade handling mostly adult felony cases and specializes in DNA/forensic
evidence and assists her colleagues in litigating these scientific issues.
Moderator | 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. She was elected President of NASC in
2014. 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. Mitchell provided legal
support to trial court judges and court administrators on issues ranging from
criminal and juvenile delinquency law to court records access and fines and
fees. She also provided legal support for several Minnesota Supreme Court
rules and policy committees, and in this role led efforts to fully revise the
Minnesota Criminal Rules of Procedure and the Minnesota Juvenile Delinquency
Rules of Procedure. She earned her J.D. from the University of North Dakota Law
School, and has a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota’s
Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
CLE Credits:
2.0 Standard CLE Credits approved | Event
Code: 251635
Cost:
Free!
To Register:
Click the 'REGISTER' button above. Non-MSBA members can also click the
'REGISTER' button and will need to create a login to register online. For ease,
you can also email Kara Haro with your name
and email address and she will register you personally.
Remote Participation:
Remote participation is available for this event. Instructions will be
emailed to remote participants the day prior to the CLE.
Want more
information about the Criminal
Law Section ?
To register by mail, please mail in this registration
form.
Need to cancel? Please see our cancellation policy.
Questions?
Contact kharo@mnbar.org |
612-278-6329
If you need reasonable accommodations to participate in this event please
notify Kara Haro at 612-278-6329 or kharo@mnbar.org. Please provide
notification at least 72 hours prior to the meeting to allow sufficient time to
make arrangements for accommodations at this event.