Long-Running Minnesota Sex Offender Case Comes to End

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A long-running class action over the constitutionally of Minnesota's civil commitment program for sex offenders has come to an end.

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank on Thursday dismissed the final remaining claims. He cited a decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned his earlier declaration that the program was unconstitutional because few people had ever been released from it. The U.S. Supreme Court then declined to hear the case.

The dismissed claims dealt mostly with allegations of other rights violations, which had been put on hold.

The judge says he stands by his conclusions that some of the facts revealed during the trial are shocking to the conscience. And he urges the public and all stakeholders to carefully consider the complex issues raised by the case.