http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iz2LjSikiguTSGkZRum_QuPSV5kQD9GFIMK00

The Moose Lake complex looks like a medium-security prison, with layers of secure doors and guards monitoring cell blocks of patients. It's so costly mainly because of the need to hire behavioral therapists, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists.
For every 25 to 50 offenders, there is a five- to six-member treatment team. Parts of the facility resemble a community college campus, with chairs arranged around the edges of rooms for group therapy sessions. There is a separate unit for about 8 percent of the sex offenders who refuse to participate in treatment, and another one for aging clients, some of whom use wheelchairs and walkers.
"They had no idea 10 years ago, seven years ago, what this program was going to cost," said Dennis Benson, a former prison warden who now oversees Minnesota's civilly committed sex offenders.
Minnesota already spends $65 million a year to house and treat sex offenders. State lawmakers usually don't complain about the costs, but they balked when Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked to borrow $90 million to complete the expansion of the Moose Lake facility. They eventually gave him slightly more than half that amount, despite a growing deficit of $1 billion.

Wisconsin has released 61 sex offenders since adopting a civil-commitment system in 1994. But in Minnesota, no one has ever gotten out. One man was released provisionally but got pulled back for a technical violation and later died in confinement.

Minnesota's law was passed in 1994 after the state Supreme Court overturned the commitment of Dennis Linehan, a repeat sex offender who had served 27 years in prison for kidnapping a 14-year-old babysitter found strangled in 1965.
After public outrage, Gov. Arne Carlson called the Legislature into a one-day special session to broaden the civil commitment statute. Linehan was swiftly recommitted.
The program grew steadily over the next decade, then exploded after the 2003 abduction and slaying of Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old North Dakota college student, by a Minnesota sex offender. The suspect, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., had been freed after finishing a 23-year sentence for an attempted abduction. Prison authorities did not recommend civil commitment.
After Sjodin's murder, state prison authorities began referring all high-risk sex offenders for commitment. The program's population jumped from 167 in 2000 to 565 this year. It is projected to reach 1,000 in six or seven years.

Money well spent, other than the incredible waste of hiring all the shrinks and social workers. If you're never getting out, and statisically nearly certain to reoffend again, frankly I don't give a damn if you get treatment for your sexual angst. Give 'em a rubber dollie and let them work it out. Or give 'em a pencil and paper, and have them write ten million times "I will not kidnap, kill or rape people ever again".

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: June 23, 2010 - 2:52 PM

An escape attempt by four people committed to the Minnesota sex-offender treatment facility in Moose Lake was thwarted, prompting a lockdown at the facility, officials said Wednesday.

The breakout Saturday evening "was prevented by the quick response of staff and numerous security measures in place at the secure facility," according to a statement from the state Department of Human Services, which runs Moose Lake.

The four failed to "bypass the secure perimeter" and were quickly nabbed by security personnel on the grounds, the statement continued.

The facility was locked down, a security measure that ended Tuesday night, said department spokeswoman Bonnie Martin.

Martin said the four have been charged in Carlton County District Court. She declined to reveal their names or say whether any of them were armed during the escape attempt.

The Moose Lake complex, just off Hwy. 73, looks like a medium-security prison. It has layers of secure doors, guards monitoring cell blocks of patients and tall fences topped with razor wire.

The treatment program allows civil commitment of sex offenders after their prison sentences are finished. Since its start, none of more than 500 people committed to Moose Lake has been released.

when he said thieves should be executed because people who violate property rights will probably violate other rights too and should be treated accordingly. The same holds true for Level 3 sex offenders, only more so.

The Moose Lake scumbags have shown they're a grave danger to society and can't be trusted to respect the rights of others, so they should get the Soviet treatment - a bullet to the head and their family billed for the expense.

If you don't respect the natural rights of others, you forfeit your own. Out of what misguided notion of morality are we keeping these lowlifes alive?

Time to bring back the death penalty. If professionals believe there's a likely chance you'll reoffend, we hold a state lottery and the winner gets to execute you.

Star Tribune:

"The four charged with escape are Lloyd Anthony Hartleib, 42; Steven Allan Housman, 55; Russell Lynn Norton, 42; and Christopher Loyd Ivey, 39.

Along with sexually assaulting numerous women, Ivey has also been convicted of murdering a woman, according to court records. In 1989, he entered a 21-year-old woman's home in Germany, fondled her, tore at her clothes and choked her for "seven or more minutes" until she died, the records show."



Exactly what is the going rate for those sub-sonic rounds, Prae and X? I'd like to find an economical solution for our storeage problem, but don't want to disturb the neighbors either...