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Biography
Morten Bødskov (born 1 May 1970 in Karup) is a Danish social democratic politician and former Minister of Justice in the Government of Helle Thorning-Schmidt. At age 15 he joined the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark (DSU), where he quickly assumed a large number of positions of trust. In 1996 he took over as federal president of the DSU from Henrik Sass Larsen. In 2001 he was elected to the Folketinget, two years later he was appointed spokesman, and in 2005 Helle Thorning-Schmidt appointed him as deputy chairman of the parliamentary party (folketingsgruppen).
From 3 October 2011 to 11 December 2013, he served as Minister of Justice. As Minister of Justice, Bødskov was among those who spearheaded austerity measures, new restrictions on air guns, an increased focus on gang and biker-related crime, a new Probation system and the creation of 200 new prison places and the highly controversial amendment to the Public Records Act.