Essay
Good morning to the Chairs and Committee, my name is Angie Vang. Today I propose to you the bill, HF0393, which is the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission meetings required to be recorded and shared to the public.
The establishment of the MSGC (Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission) serves as regulation. The judge uses the MSGC guidelines when imposing a sentence for the defendant. The procedure is to sentence them with the severity of their crime, this includes the defendant’s criminal record.
If the bill fails to pass, the issue lies on the transparency and accountability of the case. There will be no visual or audio recorded for the public, this limits the public's ability to see morality and principles of the sentence, and less accessible information of the case.
The bill allows the public to have easy access to information about the case as it will be published on the commission website. This bill allows those, unable to attend the meeting or those who feel as if the case was misconduct to have the insight of the discussion and sentencing.
With this bill, it gives the public’s trust and fairness of the case. Please support me in passing the bill, thank you.