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Republicans are dedicated to
protecting law-abiding citizens from being victims of crime and
support funding for programs and laws that keep criminals off the
street. In particular, Republicans support law enforcement and
strong punishment for criminals and the rights of individuals to
protect themselves and their property. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. John Lesch (D-St.
Paul) wants to make it easier for convicts to get jobs, housing, and
access to your children. He has offered House File 1548 to make it
easier to expunge the vast majority of criminal convictions or
deferred dispositions of criminal cases. Minnesota has one of the
broadest systems of criminal background checks, which would be
crippled by wide-scale access to expungement. (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans believe
"that school bus companies should know about DWI convictions,
landlords should be aware of deferred sentences on operating meth
labs, and that day care centers must know about the real background
of potential employees." (1)
Preventing crimes is the surest way to keep citizens safe. |
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Wrong: |
First, Rep. Joe Mullery
(D-Minneapolis) wanted to create a board to provide "environmental
justice," which means the "fair treatment of people of all races,
cultures, and income in the development, adoption, implementation,
and enforcement of environmental laws and policies." (House File
205). Now, Rep. Karen Clark (D-Minneapolis) wants Minnesota to seek
federal funds to create a map for where you are most likely to be
arrested for crimes against "environmental justice." (House File
1407).
(1) |
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Right: |
Republicans
believe that justice refers to relationships between human
beings and that finding and incarcerating murderers, rapists, and
thugs who terrorize neighborhoods and innocent citizens is the best
way that government can provide justice. |
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| Wrong: |
Rep. Scott Kranz
(D-Blaine) wants to allow Metro governments to fund removal of
"undesirable" wild animals from the Metro area. (House File 247)
(1) |
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Right: |
Republicans believe that state funds should be used to
"deport the over 500 foreign-born felons in the
Minnesota correctional system" (1)
before we spend any tax dollars to
regulate objectionable wildlife. |
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Wrong: |
Rep. John Lesch (D-St.
Paul) would have courts presume that a landlord knew that one member
of a criminal gang was using his apartment to take bets over the
phone, or take calls for prostitutes, or engage in any other gang
activity. The fact that crimes happened in an apartment would be
"prima facie" evidence that the landlord was aware of the crimes. If
a judge issues an injunction to the landlord to stop these crimes,
and the landlord fails, the punishment would be up to 30 days in
jail, a $10,000 fine, or both. (House File 49) (1) |
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Right: |
Rep. Lesch's proposal
shows once again how blithely Democrats are willing to make
criminals out of law-abiding citizens in order to look like they are
being tough on crime. Republican proposals do not require citizens
to do the work of law enforcement and confront potentially dangerous
criminals. |
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Wrong: |
At the same time that
Rep. Tom Huntley is the Chief Author of the bill to legalize the
smoking of marijuana (House File 655), he is also the Chief Author
of the smoking ban bill for tobacco. (House File 305) (1) |
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Right: |
Rep. Huntley evidently believes that his
role in the legislature is
to make laws based on his personal preferences. |
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Wrong: |
A NEW FRONT IN THE WAR
ON LANDLORDS, PART ONE: Rep. Willie Dominguez (D-Minneapolis) wants
all records of courts and tenant screening associations expunged one
year after a bad tenant is evicted. (House File 2141)
A NEW FRONT IN THE WAR ON LANDLORDS, PART TWO: Rep. Karen Clark
(D-Minneapolis) has offered a blank check for a non-profit hotline
where lawyers and law students advise tenants on how to sue their
landlords. (House File 2356) (1) |
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Right: |
Republicans
believe that landlords provide a service to the public and have a right to manage their property and protect it, and their
law-abiding tenants, from criminal activity. The state should not
subsidize lawyers and promote a glut of lawsuits under the
assumption that every tenant has a rightful claim. |
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Sources: |
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1. |
MN House Republicans, Marty Seifert's
office, 2007. |
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