State v. Kirby

DISSENT

I respectfully dissent because the court misapplies the so-called “amelioration doctrine” in its interpretation of section 18 of the Minnesota Drug Sentencing Reform Act (DSRA). Act of May 22, 2016, ch. 160, § 18, 2016 Minn. Laws 576, 590-91. As a threshold matter, I question whether a legislative act that directs the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission to increase the presumptive sentences listed in a proposed Guidelines grid even implicates the amelioration doctrine. But even assuming that section 18 implicates the amelioration doctrine, I would conclude that the plain and…