The Eighth Circuit Revives Certain Claims Relating to Minnesota’s Sex Offender Program (“MSOP”)
In an Order dated February 24, 2021, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Minnesota Federal District Court’s earlier ruling in Karsjens v. Tony Lourey, dismissing claims that civilly committed individuals have a right to be free from punishment, that they are entitled to the least restrictive environment appropriate, and that they have a right to be free from inhumane treatment, which were Counts 5, 6, and 7 of Plaintiffs’ amended complaint. The Eighth Circuit remanded the case to the District Court for further proceedings.
This case was originally filed in December of 2011 alleging claims that the MSOP was unconstitutional for a variety of reasons. Gustafson Gluek, PLLC was appointed by the District Court to represent a class of civilly committed individuals. After a six-week trial in 2015, the District Court found, under two of Plaintiffs’ many claims, that the MSOP was unconstitutional on its face and as applied and ordered the State of Minnesota to make significant changes to the program. Defendants appealed and the Eighth Circuit Court applied a “shocks the conscience” standard, reversed the District Court’s decision, dismissed Counts 1 and 2, and sent the case back to the District Court for further proceedings.
Defendants then asked the District Court to dismiss the remaining claims, and applying the same standard that the Eighth Circuit had just applied (the “shocks the conscience” standard). The District Court granted Defendants’ request and dismissed the remaining claims. Plaintiffs then appealed the dismissal of those remaining claims, arguing that a different standard should apply because those claims assert that the conditions of confinement amounted to unconstitutional punishment. The Eighth Circuit yesterday agreed that a different standard should be applied to Counts 5, 6 and 7, and ordered the District Court to review those claims under the applicable standard.
Court-appointed counsel for the class of civilly committed individuals, Dan Gustafson, said: “We are pleased with the decision from the Eighth Circuit clarifying the applicable legal standard” and “we look forward to prosecuting these remaining claims on behalf of our clients.”
For more information or if you have questions, please email Dan Gustafson.