Shakopee Valley News - Women's Prison.......Walls or Not? - Comments

As far back as I can

PAT T LAND — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:33:11 -0500

As far back as I can remember the original prison was on the north side. The south side were the new prison sits was owned by the state and was used for there Garden/agriculture program. this was for a time shared by the boy scout stockade which was east of the new prison in the state barn. the houses east and west of the new location were already built. Sweeny school was Built before the new prison on land not owned by the state

I agree with Robert. The

chefemby — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:04:40 -0500

I agree with Robert. The prison was there first. And not that this justifies a school being across from a prison, but I think the state either donated the land that Sweeney is on or offered them an unbeatable price for the land (please someone correct me if I'm wrong).
I do wish I would have seen the Comedy Central bit though - sounds like it was pretty funny.

Good insight Chuck... your

goldengopher — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:17:20 -0500

Good insight Chuck... your perspective adds a lot of light to the situation.

Did anyone see the comedy central bit a year or two ago where they came and did a story on our prison without a fence? It really made the mayor and the city look foolish. It was all in good fun though. I laughed out loud when the comedy central reporter asked the mayor what was surrounding the prison - and the mayor replied, "I think a bush". So of course the reporter had to test the effectiveness of the bush as a barrier and walked through the bush and yelled, "ouch! I got a pricker!"

Anyone see that?

The prison has existed for

chuck.berg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:39:54 -0500

The prison has existed for about 80 years, with the current location now open over 20 years. There is one big change though. The population used to be primarily made up of mostly minimum security inmates with a population of about 100. With the fast growth in women offenders, the Shakopee prison is now used for many more violent offenders with a population of almost 500.

To use the previous analogy, this would be like building your home near a small creek and then having the government dam that creek downstream so that you now live next to a surging river.

Robert ~ I love your

Ineedavacation — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:45:00 -0500

Robert ~ I love your comments ! ! And I must say I agree. It's very typical with todays society where people believe the world revolves around them and must change to accomodate them. This is why we see children in trouble on the news so frequently ... what a terrible shame the world is becoming.

It reminds me of the story where a person that bought a cup of steaming hot coffee from McDonalds and then spilled the steaming cup of hot coffee on themself and THEN SUED MCDONALDS because they burned themself with the hot coffee.
Unbelievable ! !

Correction.....The Shakopee

PAT T LAND — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:33:09 -0500

Correction.....The Shakopee womens prison has always been a MAX facility. It is thee only womens facility in the state......St Cloud, Lino Lakes, Stillwater ect are all mens. As far back as 1950s it has kept both minimum and max inmates in different Dorms on this site and the old site

Let me see if I understand

Robert Thibodeaux — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:30:40 -0500

Let me see if I understand this correctly.

A prison is built.
People then build houses & schools near prison.
People buy these houses near then prison.
Then complain that there is a prison next to there house?

Hmmm - Here is my simple solution -
If you don't want to live next to a Prison,
Don't buy a house next to a Prison.

I could understand if the state came along a built a Prison in a neighborhood, but people instead built a house next a prison.

The is similar to the people who live in a flood plane, next to a river then complain that the state needs to do something to stop the flooding.

I'm not asking why the

shakmom3 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:55:50 -0500

I'm not asking why the prison there, I'm questioning why it's still there. The fact is that it's currently in a residential neighborhood, located across the street from a school. Maybe it's time for the state to find a new location.

The state DOES want to put

Justmeagain — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:09:10 -0500

The state DOES want to put up a fence/wall...many of the neighborhood people DON'T want it. So the Pawlenty comment is sort of hitting the target.

Shakmom3 - the argument why there's a prison near a school is the prison was there first..the original prison was located across the street (north) of the current facility. This is the argument that non-fence people use and the original agreement with the city and state that no fence will ever be put up. (even though times have changed and the makeup of the inmates have changed).

PRISON!........I always

PAT T LAND — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:57:09 -0500

PRISON!........I always thought that was a state run bed and breakfast.....I bet there would be a fence up if Pawlenty lived across the street

I currently have one child

shakmom3 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:37:33 -0500

I currently have one child at Sweeney. Yes, I have concerns about the prison being across the street. I don't understand why there is a prison in the middle of a neighborhood, and next to a school. Maybe the fence is not the answer, maybe a relocation of the prison is. If the population is not the same as what it was when the prison was originally built, maybe it's time for them to move out of the Shakopee neighborhoods.

I had children that attended

Justmeagain — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:57:09 -0500

I had children that attended Sweeney too. I think the prison needs a fence. I thought it was weird when we moved here that there was not a fence surrounding the prison.

I believe if something would happen, the community would be in a uproar with the state because the state didn't take enough precautions. The state has a duty to protect the citizens not appease homeowners that don't want the fence because of the belief that it will look bad and nothing has ever happened. Looks and history will not protect anyone.

I know a lady that is one of the head supervisors (used to be called Prison Matrons)...she says the makeup of the prison population has drastically changed and the population has increased, from when she started 20 plus years ago.

These prisoners currently are not just minor offenders that were the majority of the population makeup a decade ago. There are now murderers, sex offenders (yes, women), abusers, etc. These women committed many of the offenses against individuals that they are related to. Now think, if these women could do harm to a relative, do you seriously think they could harm a total stranger?

Every homeowner that is opposed to the fence should sign a waiver that will essentially hold-harmless the state in case of something happening because the fence was not there.

Also, the City of Shakopee's Mayor also should sign a waiver in same accordance of the homeowners that are opposed. However, the City's agreement should have a caveat that the City will be held responsible if something were to happen to the community because of the lack of a fence.

Women's Prison.......Walls or Not?

chefemby — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:46:41 -0500

I have two children that attend Sweeney Elementary and also attend the Sweeney PTO meetings each month. Every other month or so we get into a discussion regarding the Women's Prison that is across the street from Sweeney. Discussions range from whether or not the school should invest in cameras that point towards the prison to whether or not there should be walls built around the prison.