William Mitchell College of Law will host a conference examining Minnesota’s civil commitment of sex offenders from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Thursday, Jan. 19.  The Conference is co-sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

The conference, “Sex Offender Civil Commitment in Minnesota: Challenges and Opportunities,” will include presentations and panel discussions on:

• The legal context:  are there potential legal challenges to the state’s sex offender commitment program; how can the challenges be ameliorated?
• Identifying more specific and uniform legal standards for judging risk at the commitment stage, as well as at the discharge stage, of the proceedings.
• Examining the absence of a full continuum of service and supervision resources other than high-cost secure facility placements for civilly committed sex offenders.
• Case studies on the experiences of other states (New York, Texas, Wisconsin).

Speakers and facilitators include some of the nation’s top thought-leaders on the use of civil commitment for sex offenders, including:

• Eric S. Janus, president and dean of William Mitchell College of Law and author of “Failure to Protect,” which explores sexual predator laws from three perspectives: public safety, civil liberties, and effective government
• Lucinda Jesson, commissioner of Human Services for the State of Minnesota
• Deborah McCulloch, director of the Wisconsin Sexually Violent Person Program
• Naomi J. Freeman, director of the New York State Bureau of Sex Offender Evaluation and Treatment Division of Forensic Service  NYS Office of Mental Health
• Noel C. Thomas, treatment coordinator with the New York State Bureau of Sex Offender Evaluation and Treatment
• Shelia M. Brandt, a clinical psychologist and the legislative and stakeholder relations director for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

Cost is $20 (lunch included). Application has been made for continuing education credit.

Register