This session is eligible for 1.0 Standard CLE credit and Social Work CEUs.

To receive continuing education credits, purchase the appropriate ticket and you will receive access to the password projected video online. For legal practitioners seeking CLE credit, take note of the keyword that will appear in the video. When you are done viewing the video, submit the keyword to info@mnjrc.org and you will receive the code you need to claim your CLE.

About this session:

This session was part of the MNJRC's 2023 Re-Imagining Justice Conference. To learn more about the annual conference, please visit: https://www.mnjrc.org/re-imagining-justice-conference

This presentation is a solution-focused panel presentation on barriers that individuals encounter reintegrating back into their communities. The panelists discuss why driver’s license suspension issues are a high priority during reentry and the importance of having a valid driver’s license to promote success reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. A valid driver’s license supports individuals finding and keeping employment, obtaining stable housing, facilitating reunification with family, and fulfilling community supervision requirements.

Panelists introduce recently passed legislation in Minnesota that (1) ends driver’s license suspension for unpaid tickets and certain other offenses related to parking or traffic violations, (2) establishes a temporary driver’s license for people recently released from incarceration whose license has been suspended or revoked for unpaid fines or minor traffic violations committed prior to incarceration, and (3) creates eligibility for reinstatement for individuals currently suspended for any combination of unpaid traffic fines/fees, FTA on minor traffic violation, or DAS/DAR convictions.

These new laws present innovative yet practical approaches that address one of the many unique challenges faced by individuals striving to reintegrate into their community upon release from incarceration.

The panelists also discuss the work of the Minnesota Collaborative Justice Project (MNCJP), which brings together diverse stakeholders to promote the successful reentry of individuals released from federal and state correctional facilities. As part of this discussion, the panelists provide a national perspective on both successful and challenging reform initiatives related to reintegration, highlighting why driver’s license issues should be prioritized.

Finally, the panelists discuss the role of advocacy collaboration in advancing goals on successful reentry, focusing on the recent driver’s license bills. The panel addresses why direct-service providers, impacted individuals, and policy advocates, working together, can more effectively advance important policy solutions.

Panelists incorporate the voice of impacted individuals by including on the panel a formerly incarcerated individual to discuss their experiences with barriers to reentry broadly and subsequently with a particular focus on the barriers related to a suspended or revoked license. They highlight how a valid license supports successful reintegration through the lens of their experience, and the difficulties achieving driver’s license reinstatement.

Panelists:

--Jamie Rigling, LICSW/LADC, Community Intervention Coordinator, US Probation and Pretrial Services

--Eve Runyon; President and CEO of Pro Bono Institute

--Anna Odegaard, MPP, Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Strategist for the Midwest at the Fines and Fees Justice Center (formerly the Policy Director at the Minnesota Asset Building Coalition)

Prioritizing Driver’s License Issues and Changes to Minnesota Statue (CLE)