District Court
Collette Adkins Giese and Brian O'Neill, Faegre & Benson
Case background
In the Summer of 2009, the ACLU-MN, along with cooperating attorneys, agreed to represent patients who are challenging the conditions of their confinement in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) "Annex". The Annex is located in a wing of the Moose Lake Correctional Facility. While it is located within the state prison, it is technically a part of the Moose Lake Regional Treatment Center. It houses individuals who have served their prison time but have been civilly committed indefinitely for mental health treatment as Sexually Dangerous Persons and Sexual Psychopathic Personalities. The patients being held in the Annex have exercised their right to refuse to participate in sex offender treatment. Conditions at the Annex are significantly more punitive than in the general MSOP facility located at the Moose Lake Regional Treatment Center.
The Plaintiffs (who originally represented themselves pro se) challenge numerous unconstitutional conditions including:
- Detainees are subjected to strip searches and are handcuffed and shackled as part of standard operating procedure whenever detainees are transported. For example, to attend patient advisory committee meetings at the MSOP facility or after contact visits. This is violation of their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
- Detainees' incoming legal mail has, on numerous occasions, been opened outside the presence of the detainee in violation of their Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
- Detainees allege that they are not allowed incoming calls and that their calls are monitored in violation of their First Amendment right to telephone access.
- Detainees are subjected to potentially severe health risks due to inadequate sanitation in violation of their Eighth Amendment rights including:
- Urine and fecal matter are frequently found on the bathroom floor or toilet seats;
- No sanitizer is readily available to disinfect the floors and toilet seats;
- Mops and brooms used to clean the bathrooms and showers are also used to clean cells, thereby spreading germs to their cells;
MSOP retaliated against two of the plaintiffs for their participation in litigation challenging their access to religious activities while civilly committed to the MSOP. The retaliation took the form of a reduction in their access to religious services, attorneys, the court and visitation by family; unreasonable restraint leading to injury; unreasonable searches of property; and the seizure and copying of legal papers.
The next step in the case will be proceeding to discovery, which will happen over the next few months. The ACLU-MN has long been concerned about the way in which Minnesota's sex offender civil commitment program has been implemented. Although patients are not prisoners, their conditions of confinement often mirror that of prisoners. While the purpose of civil commitment is to provide treatment, few - if any - patients have been released from the program. The ACLU-MN firmly believes that the constitution grants individuals the same rights no matter your identity or background. While defending sex offenders' rights may be considered unsavory to many people, we believe that constitutional rights would be meaningless if they did not apply in situations when we are most tempted to violate them.
2011 Updates
2.15.11 - In a report issued by Magistrate Mayeron she finds that the alleged conduct does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation, and grants the summary judgment motions brought by the defendants, which would dismiss the ACLU's case. The ACLU-MN filed an appeal and is waiting for a response.
Beaulieu Magistrate Report
Legal Documents
Decisions
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