LWV St. Paul and LWV Dakota County co-hosted a moderated panel discussion regarding how to improve community responses to sexual assault on January 22, 2019, at the St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) television studio.
The discussion was moderated by Mary Rice, President of LWV Bloomington. The panelists included Jennifer Bjorhus, one of the lead journalists who worked on the Star Tribune's Denied Justice series, Nicole Matthews, Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Woman’s Sexual Assault Coalition, John Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, Paul Schnell, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and Sarah Colford, a survivor and Board Member with Break the Silence. Both Ms. Matthews and Commissioner Schnell sat on the sexual assault task force convened by Attorney General Lori Swanson which issued a report in December 2018 with recommendations for the state legislature, law enforcement, county attorneys, and the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board.