For the better part of the past two years, lawmakers in Minnesota have been working to reform the state’s sex offender program as it pertains to some of the system’s worst offenders. However, all that progress has seemingly gone out the window now that a federal appeals court has issued a ruling that they state is in the public’s best interests.
Sex Offender Reform
Back in 2014, a Minnesota-based federal judge issued a ruling that the current state of the sex offender reform program was unconstitutional. In a nutshell, the program operated by sending higher level sex offenders to a secondary facility after their sentence was over. Offenders were told that once they completed the reformation program at the secondary facility that they would be discharged, but the program had unclear guidelines and reformation plans, leaving the vast majority of offenders in a purgatory-like state in the secondary facility.
For example, of the nearly 700 sex offenders in the secondary program, only six individuals have ever been discharged.
Valuing Safety Over Liberties
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton praised the appeals court ruling, saying “I am very glad that we have received that ruling,” but it’s not a perfect solution. Offenders are still stuck in secondary programs without guidance or a plan to work towards a release should they complete certain aspects of the program.
It’s completely understandable that lawmakers and the public are concerned about releasing some of these high-level offenders back into society, but the original ruling that stated the program was unconstitutional shined a light on a broken system, and we were working towards fixing a failed system. However, with today’s ruling, there’s little reason to think we’ll see much actual change with the sex offender reform system.
Gov. Dayton did say that the ruling “does not mean that we just go back to letting people be locked up over their lifetimes,” but let’s be honest, he’s in no hurry to go to bat for these people.
Everyone has constitutional rights, and we’re not saying that high level offenders need to be released once their sentence is complete, but there simply needs to be better management of these secondary reform facilities and the programs through which the offenders are put through. If we truly what to ensure that they are reformed and will not reoffend, we need to develop a comprehensive program with stages that progress towards an endpoint if the offender is showing all the appropriate signs and behaviors. Lumping them into a disorganized program with no end in sight does them no good. We need to be working towards a solution, not just putting them in limbo and hoping it all works out.
