The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today on the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), overturning the previous U.S. District Court ruling that the program was unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals held that the program was not only constitutional, but necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise go free. (See complete opinion here.) Twenty other states have lockup programs similar to Minnesota’s, making this a highly-watched case. And with the Minnesota Legislature about to convene, its members are no doubt relieved that they have been spared from the politically poisonous task of reforming the sex offender program.
On a somewhat similar note, Ramsey County recently made news with the recent release of the WATCH study which compared Hennepin and Ramsey Districts’ handling of sex trafficking cases from 2012 through 2016. WATCH also wanted to see the impact of the 2011 Safe Harbor law, which was passed to ensure that sexually exploited youths are viewed as victims and not criminals. The entire report is a must-read for anyone who wants to know about how a person gets charged under MN Stat §609.322 and how, but the big news was how differently the same statute is applied in the different jurisdictions. The Hennepin approach relies on the statute language “promotes prostitution” whereas the Ramsey approach relies on the language which specifically makes sex trafficking a crime. According to this Star Tribune article there are other factors are at work but that the average prison sentence in Ramsey County was 19 years, more than three times as long as the Hennepin County average. Moreover, Hennepin County defendants were significantly more likely to obtain downward sentencing departures. The report had other recommendations for the legislature, courts, and prosecutors.
