After Supreme Court passes, what’s next for sex offenders?

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10-9-17 Minnesota:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When the U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of Minnesota’s sex offender program, it relieved the pressure for major near-term change in a program that confines over 700 people who’ve finished their prison sentences. Only rarely is anyone released.

Here’s a look at a program that is often opaque to the public, and at the handful of people who — at least on paper — may have a shot at release sometime soon:

THE PROGRAM

It now houses 720 people who’ve been civilly committed to prison-like facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter. Only one man has ever been fully discharged from the treatment program, and that didn’t happen until last year.

Eight others are on provisional discharges, at halfway houses, group homes and other heavily supervised community settings that could be their last stop before full release. Nothing is guaranteed. Most didn’t get to take that tentative step toward freedom until recently.

Of the 301 at the St. Peter campus, 89 have earned their way into a potential pathway to release called Community Preparation Services. It’s a supervised but unlocked facility outside the razor wire. They’re generally in the later stages of treatment. Their programming focuses on reintegration. They get to participate in vocational and volunteer opportunities and supervised outings. ..Continued..

What To Do With Violent Sex Offenders

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Late but still worth a read.

10-8-17 National:

The Supreme Court considers whether “civil commitment” is just prison by another name.

If someone finishes a prison sentence for a violent sexual crime, but might still be dangerous, should he be released? How do you know if he’s dangerous? And when does it violate his rights to hold him?

On Monday, the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a case that stems from these questions, a challenge to a Minnesota “civil commitment” program that holds people convicted of sexual crimes long after their sentences, ostensibly for treatment. Roughly 20 programs have arisen around the country since 1990, and at first they appeared similar to the hospitals for the mentally disabled on which they were modeled. When the Minnesota program was created in 1994, patients could bring their own computer or television or game console or aquarium, they could leave with a staff escort, visiting hours lasted eight hours a day, and if their families brought groceries, they could cook in the facility, according to the original lawsuit. In theory, once you completed treatment, you would be released.

But the laws governing the program were amended, and by 2012 the two Minnesota facilities, among others around the country, looked suspiciously like prisons. Surrounded by double-razor wire and bunked in two-man cells, more than 700 “patients,” as they were still called, now wore handcuffs and leg irons when transported. Visits were limited, personal computers and televisions were no longer allowed in, and strip searches became common. ..Continued..

The predator who abducted a Port Salerno girl 24 years ago faces a civil commitment trial

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10-5-17 Florida:

STUART — It could be six months before a jury decides if the man convicted in the death of a 10-year-old Port Salerno girl 24 years ago should be held in involuntary civil custody to receive treatment as a sexual predator.

Chester Price, 47, is at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, and didn’t attend a status hearing held Tuesday before Martin County Circuit Judge Barbara Bronis.

Price’s victim, Andrea Parsons, disappeared July 11, 1993 after buying penny candy and chips at Bucky's Port Salerno Grocery Store, about two blocks from her Southeast Ebbtide Avenue home. Her body was never found.

The case wasn't settled until 2014 in a plea deal, in part because of the death of a key witness and Price’s alleged accomplice, Claude Davis. Price was convicted of aggravated manslaughter of a child and kidnapping — aggravated child abuse of a child younger than 13. ..Continued..

U.S. High Court Leaves Minnesota Sex Offender Program Running

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10-3-17 Minnesota:

Minnesota can keep its program that indefinitely locks up sex offenders after they finish serving prison terms.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday, Oct. 2, that it will not consider a case brought by patients of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, who claimed the state cannot keep them in a prison-like setting. That means the state program is constitutional and may continue.

Still, state officials said that they will continue to find ways to release sex offenders from the program after years of no releases.

“Importantly, this ruling does not mean that we abandon our ongoing reforms, to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of all Minnesotans,” Gov. Mark Dayton aid. “Rather, this ruling will allow us to continue the reforms we have begun, rather than operate under a federal directive.”

State officials had feared that a federal judge would take control of the state treatment program, potentially running up large expenses. But the governor and legislators had not agreed on any major reforms to avoid federal involvement.

Supreme Court judges make no comment when they reject a case, giving no hint as to why they turned down the case.

Monday’s announcement means a federal appeals court ruling governs the issue. The appeals decision overturned a lower court decision that found the sex offender program unconstitutional. The appeals ruling removed requirements for immediate changes the lower court was prepared to order.

State Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper said she is happy the high court allowed the appeals ruling to stand after long arguing that the program is constitutional. ..Continued..