Minnesota sex offenders program ruled constitutional by appeals court
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota’s program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders’ rights because hardly anyone is ever released.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state, which argued that the program is both constitutional and necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise go free. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.
Only six offenders are currently free on provisional releases from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, even though it’s more than 20 years old. That led U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in 2015 to declare the program unconstitutional and order changes to make it easier for people to get on a pathway for release.
In its ruling overturning the lower court ruling, CBS Minnesota reports that the judges wrote: “The class plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that any of the identified actions of the state defendants or arguable shortcomings in the (Minnesota Sex Offenders Program) were egregious, malicious, or sadistic as is necessary to meet the conscience-shocking standard.”
The Minnesota case has been closely watched by lawyers, government officials and activists in the 20 states with similar programs. While civilly committed offenders in California, Wisconsin, New Jersey and other states are allowed to re-enter society after completing treatment, Minnesota has the highest per capita lockup rate, and its courts didn’t order the unconditional release of anyone from its program until August.
Minnesota’s offenders are confined by court order for treatment at secure facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter that are ringed by razor wire, though there’s a section outside the wire at St. Peter for people who’ve progressed to the later stages of treatment and been given some limited freedoms. They’re officially considered patients or residents, not prisoners. But the lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 700 offenders argued that the program amounts to a life sentence.
Minnesota has struggled for years with the rising costs of the program. It costs more than $120,000 a year to house just one resident, triple the cost of prison. A CBS Minnesota investigation found that Minnesota taxpayers have spent $2 billion on a sex offender program that critics, and the offenders themselves, say is a waste of money.
But lawmakers, many fearful of appearing soft on crime, have resisted any substantive changes to the program. Just this year, legislators declined a proposal to buy land for and design two facilities aimed at housing sex offenders on course for eventual release.
Frank stopped short of shutting down the program last year. The judge instead ordered changes, including risk assessments for all patients to determine which ones should be put on a faster path toward release into less restrictive settings. The 8th Circuit stayed his rulings while it considered the appeal.
During oral arguments in April, Minnesota’s solicitor general, Alan Gilbert, said Frank had lost his neutrality while handling the case, which was filed in 2011. Even before Frank ruled, he called the program “draconian” and said it was “clearly broken” and needed to be reformed.