Attorneys for sex offenders propose list of program changes
Published 10:41 am Thursday, August 20, 2015
ST. PAUL — Attorneys for more than 700 sex offenders committed to Minnesota’s secure treatment program have proposed a long list of remedies to the judge who declared the program unconstitutional.
At the top of the list filed Wednesday is that the Minnesota Sex Offender Program conduct risk evaluations on all residents by year’s end to determine whether the offenders still meet the requirements for commitment, or could be discharged or transferred to less-restrictive settings.
They also propose several other steps to make it easier to get released from the prison-like program — something that has happened only a few times in its history.
While U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank asked both sides to file proposed remedies, state officials said last week that they won’t because they still believe the program is constitutional.