Attorney General Lori Swanson's opposition to the proposed release of Thomas Duvall from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) has drawn the embattled program into the political crosshairs once again.

Dayton met with a group of 11 medical marijuana activists at the governor’s mansion.

At a Friday morning committee hearing, just 10 days before the close of the legislative session, Rep. Steve Drazkowski offered an idea for dealing with the state’s troubled civil commitment program for sex offenders. Drazkowski proposed creating a bipartisan task force to recommend changes to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

On Wednesday, legislation dealing with the Minnesota Sex Offender Program was introduced in the House. Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Park, offered a bill that would require any civilly committed sex offender who is convicted of a felony while at MSOP to serve prison time.

Sex offenders will be on the policy agenda when the Legislature convenes in January. Whether legislators want to deal with the politically volatile issue or not, the actions of a court-mandated task force examining the state’s troubled civil commitment program ensures that they will be compelled to address the subject.

Timothy Coon could spend his whole life confined to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program for actions he committed as a juvenile. And there are more than 50 others like him inside the walls of MSOP.

In June Joseph Thompson, a civilly committed sex offender, filed a 57-page complaint on his own behalf in U.S. District Court alleging that the conditions of his confinement are unconstitutional. Thompson cited strip searches, confiscation of personal property and inadequate medical care as evidence that his confinement at a facility in Moose Lake is illegal.