Minnesota Sex-Offender Treatment Program is ‘Draconian,’ Possibly Illegal, Says Judge

The rights of Minnesota sex
offenders are likely being violated by a “clearly broken” and
“draconian” state treatment program writes U.S. District Court
Judge Donovan Frank. In a 75-page decision* issued Thursday,
Frank
told legislators to reform the Minnesota Sex Offender Program
(MSOP) pronto or the court would intervene.

The MSOP—home to nearly 700 sex offenders—is a court-ordered,
post-prison destination of indefinite duration and questionable
constitutionality. A suit brought by hundreds of sex offenders
claims the program isn’t really about “treatment” but detaining and
punishing offenders who’ve completed their prison terms. As of
August 2013, MSOP had
only released two offenders ever in its 19-year
history. 

Frank didn’t rule on the merits of their claims, but his
decision will allow the constitutional challenge to proceed. He
denied the state’s motions to dismiss 12 out of 13 claims filed by
plaintiffs and called for a panel of court-appointed experts to
gather further evidence. “The time for legislative action is now,”
Frank wrote. 

Gov. Mark Dayton and some lawmakers have, in fact, been trying
for legislative action. But their previous efforts to reform MSOP
have failed, largely due to Congressional squeamishness.

In a remarkably obtuse statement, Rep. Tony Cornish (R-Vernon
Center) admitted that the MSOP violates offenders’ civil
rights…but also that he doesn’t care. “Why would any legislator
touch this issue?” Cornish said to the Star Tribune. “Are
you that worried about the civil rights of sex offenders? I admit
it, I don’t have the courage to have a sex offender released in my
hometown.”

Fortunately, personal cowardice isn’t really a sound legal basis
for keeping folks locked up indefinitely. It’s now up to Minnesota
legislators to come up with a path forward or face a federal court
ruling that declares the whole business unconstitutional. That
could lead to hundreds of sex offenders being released en masse,
and something tells me constituents might frown on that a little
more than the enactment of a sensible reform policy.

• The
  whole decision is available on the Twin Cities Pioneer
  Press website.