Where’s the growth?
Ella’s Halo
John Diers column
Students help families with preemies
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PRIOR LAKE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2011
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AMERICAN Court upholds sex offender’s civil commitment Rud sparked infamous Jordan sex-abuse scandal in the 1980s BY SHANNON FIECKE sfiecke@swpub.com
James Rud may not have been the ideal candidate to fi ght the constitutionality of the state’s civil commitment process, but two Shakopee defense attorneys tried to anyway. The court-appointed attorneys for the infamous sex offender can’t deny that Rud – who admitted victimizing 16 people and sparked the infamous 1980s Jordan child sex-abuse scan-
dal – fits the defi nition of someone eligible for civil commitment, but they argued there were alternative placement opportunities for him. Rud, 54, was eligible for intensive supervised release after serving the fi rst 30 years of his 40-year prison sentence, but the Scott County Attorney’s office requested he be civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person with a psychopathic personality upon release. Scott County District Court Judge Caroline Lennon ruled last September that Rud should be placed at the state’s sex-offender treatment facility in Moose Lake, fi nding that less-restrictive alternatives failed to protect public safety. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld her decision. The prison-like Minnesota Sex Offender Program has been the sub-
ject of much scrutiny due to its high cost and the fact that no one has ever been released from the facility. Kevin Wetherille and James Conway, who work for t he Shakopee law office Jaspers, Moriarty James Rud and Walburg, took (1983) a new tact in their arguments against Rud’s commitment. Although civil commitment is only supposed to occur if a less-restrictive alternative isn’t available, Conway argued the state blocks alternative placements for offenders they want to civilly commit. Officials are able to do this, he said, because they control access to halfway houses and treatment
programs. For a Level 3 sex offender to get into a ha l f way house, he needs a referral from a case mana ger. However, a case manager (who is supposed to help an inmate transition James from prison) never Rud met w it h Rud or even talked to him on the phone, Conway said. Likewise, a supervised-release agent assigned to Rud failed to investigate any housing opportunities for him, only looking at a couple of sites Rud came up with on his own. “The government holds all the keys and locks all the doors for sex offenders with the way the system was set up,” said Conway.
Unlike the commitment process for people with mental illnesses, it’s up to the sex offender to prove that a less-restrictive alternative exists, he said. “If the government holds all the keys to proving that, it’s a façade. No one can prove a less-restrictive alternative exists if the government prevents you from doing it,” Conway said. Conway argued before the Minnesota Court of Appeals that the state is violating offenders’ due-process rights. In the end, Conway believes Rud’s offense history was too grave for the court to consider the defense’s constitutional arguments. “It was difficult, if not impossible, for them to look beyond that,” he said.
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Tax-forfeited parcels kept off auction block
A NIGHT TO UNITE
BY LORI CARLSON editor@plamerican.com
Prior Lake city leaders have voted to request that four tax-forfeited properties be kept off the public auction block, so city staff can examine them and determine whether they could be of public benefit. In June, Scott County officials informed city staff of properties going into tax forfeiture that may be of interest to the city. The properties included a parcel south of Rutledge Street next to Lakefront Park; two properties near Northwood Road and Butternut Circle; and a proper-
ty on Red Oaks Road that’s divided into three lots and extends to a point on Prior Lake. The city would only consider the Red Oaks Road land if the state Department of Natural Resources does not decide to purchase it, said Jerilyn Erickson, the city’s fi nance director. “We’re not sure if the DNR is interested in acquiring it, but if they’re not, the city could consider it,” Erickson said. The council’s decision does not approve the purchase of any property; rather, it keeps the properties from going up for public auction so
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the city can weigh its options. Any proposals to buy land would come before the City Council. “We would like to reserve the right to look into these properties further
Tax forfeiture to page 3 ®
A nontraditional vacation Student embarks on South African trip BY MERYN FLUKER mfluker@swpub.com
PHOTO BY ALEX HALL
Adriah Hedrick, 6, models a firefighter helmet at Wilds Park during Night to Unite on Tuesday. She quickly jumped into the fire truck when it arrived and immediately tried on the fire helmet. The annual event brings together neighbors to raise awareness of community and crime prevention.
Some of the biggest lessons can’t be taught in a classroom. Prior Lake resident Maggie Singer discovered this when she spent two weeks volunteering in South Africa this summer. “I love working with kids,” Singer said. “Brightening their day, that was my goal.” The 16-year old Lakeville South High School student traveled to Johannesburg and Cape Town as part of People to People International, a 55-year-old organization founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and based in Kansas City, Mo. According to its website, People to People “is dedicated to enhancing crosscultural communication within and across communities and nations.”
Singer to page 11 ®
PHOTO BY MERYN FLUKER
Sixteen-year-old Maggie Singer brought this bowl back from her July trip to South Africa. The Prior Lake resident spent time in Cape Town and Johannesburg as part of her travels with People to People International.
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