MANKATO — As an attorney for dozens of sex offenders and a member of a high-profile panel to guide lawmakers and the courts, Ryan Magnus has a unique view of Minnesota’s sex offender quandary. When Magnus, a defense attorney with Mankato-based Jones and Magnus, looks at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, he doesn’t only see the worst of the worst. He sees people who only committed crimes as juveniles, before they mentally matured. It’s too soon to reliably guess if they’ll re-offend as adults. The poster child for these cases…
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MN: The Minnesota Sex Offender Program, explained
Last week, inside a federal courtroom in St. Paul, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank heard several days of testimony from a team of experts appointed to review how the state administers its Minnesota Sex Offender Program — the subject of a class action lawsuit that has raised numerous questions about the program’s constitutionality. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Federal panel moves on sex offenders release
____ ____ celebrated his 19th birthday by checking into Minnesota’s treatment program for sex offenders. ____ had been in and out of therapy and juvenile detention in Anoka County since he was 12, when his family discovered that he’d sexually abused other children, including his younger step-brother. Even at that age, ____ said, he was having almost daily sexual interactions with his peers. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Sex offender’s case gets review board hearing
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal hearings in July will focus on whether one man in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program should be released. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank and U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey Keyes put the man’s case on a fast track after attorney Dan Gustafson argued that every day his client is still confined is a violation of his rights. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Federal judge calls Minnesota civil commitment program “draconian”
Three weeks ago, a federal judge issued his long-awaited ruling in a civil rights case brought by civil detainees over the constitutionality of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP). Although stopping short, for now, of declaring the program unconstitutional, the judge ordered new procedures to make release attainable for the 700 detainees. He warned that he may ultimately find the program to be unconstitutional if he determines that it is essentially punitive or if it confines men who are no longer dangerous. “The time for legislative action is now,” wrote US District Judge Donovan Frank.…
Read MoreMN: Our View – Reform state sex offender program
Barring a stunning change of heart and hefty dose of political courage, Minnesota’s legislators and governor appear content to dodge the unpopular-but-necessary task of reforming the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this session. Voters need to remember that on Election Day. Equally important, they need to remember it anytime they hear state candidates criticize opponents who advocate reforms as being “soft on crime.” The truth is a decade of failure by 201 legislators and two governors to change this inhumane, incredibly expensive and likely unconstitutional program is the real crime. Full Op-Ed…
Read MoreMN: As Sex Offender Program Marches On, Rising Costs
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota lawmakers are getting nowhere over how to resolve constitutional questions about the state’s sex offender treatment program, but the same can’t be said about the program’s costs. They’re going somewhere — up. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Against Publicly Registering Children
Letter to the Editor – What if the worst thing you ever did was posted on the internet for the whole world to see? What if you did that thing as a child but have to wear it like a scarlet letter forever? Full Letter
Read MoreMN: Judge lets Minnesota sex offender suit proceed
A federal judge allowed a constitutional challenge to Minnesota’s sex-offender program to proceed Thursday and issued a strongly worded challenge to the Legislature to step in and fix “a system that is clearly broken.” U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank didn’t rule on the merits of the constitutional claims brought by participants in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, but he ordered a panel of court-appointed experts to gather further evidence and indicated that if plaintiffs’ claims hold up, the program is likely in serious constitutional trouble. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Education, empathy useful for legislators weighing sex offender program
Margretta Dwyer understands well the moral, legal and practical implications of dealing with sex offenders. But she hopes that Minnesota legislators working to revamp the civil commitment program also consider something else: Empathy. “I’m not saying sex offending is OK. I’m not saying be easy on them,” Dwyer said this week. “I’m saying there are ways we can help that are better than what we’re doing. Education, support, compassion.” Full Article
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