Amy B. Butler

06/05/2025

On Friday, 2 clients were sentenced and 2 clients avoided prison. 1 client would have made for a great day, but two?!

Eerily similar situations, actually. Both were criminal sexual conduct cases where there was delayed reporting by "new" victims. Both clients attended treatment in relation to past charges and prior to being charged with these cases. Both also demonstrated their rehabilitation in a multitude of ways (e.g. quit drinking/using drugs, improved their support system, were productive members of society). I was hired to highlight their efforts by the diligent advocates/attorneys, Max Keller/Barry Edwards and Robert Jones.

Even when this is the case, and clients do absolutely everything in their power to show they've changed, it is difficult for judges to overcome the emotions associated with these types of cases. Sometimes nothing seems to matter, but at least on Friday, it made a difference.

Kudos to the judges (Ramsey County and McLeod County) who sentenced the clients based on who they've become, as opposed to who they were when the crimes were committed.

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07/30/2024

FYI:
Juveniles are not just short adults.

The NeuroLaw Library offers free scientific resources for court officials, incarcerated people and families involved in juvenile justice.

03/06/2023

Saw this article on Mitigation Specialists and had post it! Grateful there is no death penalty in MN because everyone is deserving of mercy.

A rare look inside mitigation specialists’ investigations to help people on death row stay alive.

12/09/2022

Things I sometimes think about:
Which part of my job do I love the most-- interviewing or writing? This week it was the interviewing.

10/14/2022

Happy Friday! Heard from client's attorney and the soon-to-be college graduate will not have a felony on his record to limit his prospects. Great news to end the week.

09/23/2022

Today marks 9 years of private practice.
Thank you to all of the attorneys who trusted me with their client's story. I appreciate each and every one of you.
Here's to many more years of fighting the good fight!

09/22/2022

Received an appreciative email from an attorney yesterday even though it wasn't what most would consider a particularly great outcome.

The client received the mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison. Why post this? Because per attorney, client left the courtroom in "good spirits" and satisfied with the outcome. That's why.

It was, in client's words, "the second-best result." After taking the federal case to trial, he essentially received the plea offer and no penalty or "trial tax."

As an added bonus: I'm told the judge commented at sentencing on my report's "excellence"-- which is always nice to hear.

07/29/2022

My new coworker is cute!

06/10/2022

It has been an awfully sad few weeks. Lost a client to su***de 2 days before his sentencing and lost my beloved co-worker, Winston, to old age. I was happy to hear a federal client's sentencing went well yesterday. Credit for time served and he's on to supervised release!

05/06/2022

Yesterday a client of mine was found unresponsive in her jail cell. Next to her? Some Fentanyl.
Client is on life support and is not expected to recover. The attorney contacted me hoping I would have contact information for her next of kin. I did.
The attorney and I talked about how we didn't really know the client all that well, but what we knew of her we both liked a lot. She was thoughtful and funny despite the many ways life kept kicking her when she was down.
I'm so sad but I might be more mad than sad. I'm mad at the way we treat people in the criminal justice system, not mad at her. She deserved better. She had a terrible disease/disability which needed to be treated with care, not punished.
I hope I'll get to the point where I can use my sadness and anger constructively. I'm not there yet.
I will say I was happy to see the guidelines below (I missed it when the press release came out a month ago)--- a step in the right direction but long overdue.

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04/16/2022

Theft attempt thwarted! Someone stole my business checks and wrote themselves a refund. Grateful for the woman at the check cashing place for contacting me to verify the check. Could have caused quite a few problems— did cause a bit of a moral dilemma. Do I file a complaint with police? How creepy someone was going through our mail! And mostly, don’t they know who I am and what I do 😂
And no, I didn’t contact police. I did close the account, tell the neighbors, and take other steps to avoid further problems. Based on cases I have worked on, I am also fully anticipating a call a few months from now when the person is caught and all of my checks are found on the floor or messy backseat of their car.

04/12/2022

I attended this sentencing hearing on behalf of our client, Mr. Joe Morris. Today showed the criminal justice system does not have to be adversarial. Respect for the law can be promoted while also showing mercy and forgiveness. I cannot adequately express how remarkable it was watching those most harmed by Joe's actions ask for leniency on his behalf. Or to finally meet the community of Amish people I interviewed (who traveled from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky to support Joe) and watch them accept the invitation by the Imams to visit their mosque.

The sentences reflect the seriousness of the harm they caused but the departure shows the judge did not disregard their personal struggles, remorse, and attempts to atone for their mistakes.

As stated by the Imam, “We will neither benefit nor heal from seeing the lives of these young men doomed to prison. Our community isn't here today to seek out years for the sake of years. We want to close this chapter and write the final words of compassion, which is what our faith teaches us.”

Two Illinois men who helped bomb a Minnesota mosque in 2017 were sentenced Tuesday to penalties far below the 35-year mandatory minimum they faced, after victims and prosecutors asked for leniency