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Minnesota Agencies

Information on Minnesota State Agencies, Boards, Task Forces, and Commissions

Compiled by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library


Governor's Task Force on the Feasibility of a Minnesota Center for the Treatment of Victims of Torture

Active dates:1985
Authority:
Governor Rudy Perpich
Function: On January 18, 1985 Governor Rudy Perpich appointed a task force to examine the feasibility of a Minnesota center for victims of torture. The Task Force was charged with investigating the feasibility of a center, how it might be funded, where it might be housed, and what services it might offer.
History: In 1985, Governor Perpich, with input from his policy director Tom Triplett, created this task force with the mandate to discover how Minnesota could fill gaps in international human rights work. The task force recommended the creation of a center dedicated to care for torture survivors. Out of that work, the Center for Victims of Torture was founded as an independent, nongovernmental organization. The Center for Victims of Torture is still active today.

To learn more about this organization, read Reflections on the Founding of CVT, from their website.
Membership: The Task Force consisted of 25 people representing the state's legal, medical, behavioral science, and religious communities, state and local government, and concerned citizens. The Task Force was co-chaired by Dr. W. Eugene Mayberry, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Mayo Clinic, and Robert Stein, dean of the University of Minnesota Law School.

Other Task Force members were: Chief Justice Douglas Amdahl, Minnesota Supreme Court; Tom Berg, lawyer; Msgr. Jerome Boxleitner, Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Dr. Thomas Briggs, President of the Minnesota Medical Association; David Doty, President of the Minnesota Bar Association; Stephen Dunham, General Counsel for the University of Minnesota; Minneapolis Mayor Donald Fraser; Candee Goodman, Executive Director of Legal Advice Clinics of Hennepin County; Sam Heins, President of Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee (now known as The Advocates); Dr. Neal Holtan, Director of the International Clinic, St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center; Linda Johnson, Commissioner of the MN Department of Human Rights; Hamilton McCubbin, Professor in the department of Family and Social Sciences, University of Minnesota; Ann McLaughlin, lawyer; Judge Alberto Miera, Ramsey County Municipal Court; Rev. Bryan Peterson, Walker United Methodist Church; Rabbi Stephen Pinsky, Temple Israel; Dr. Michael Popkin, Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Minnesota; Dr. David Preus, Presiding Bishop, American Lutheran Church; Archbishop John Roach, Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Morton Ryweck, Executive Director, Jewish Anti-Defamation League; Robert Sands, lawyer; Dr. Morris Sorenson, American Lutheran Church; Josip Temali, Executive Director, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of St. Paul (retired); Dr. Neal Vanselow, Vice President, Health Sciences, University of Minnesota; David Weissbrodt, Amnesty International U.S.A. board member (information taken from May 1985 task force report).
Note: The Legislative Reference Library may have additional reports on or by this group available through our catalog.
Documents/Articles:
Torture center [Letter to the editor by Lola Perpich]. Star Tribune, 6/18/1993.
To heal the wounds of torture - worldwide. Star Tribune, 6/15/1993.
Help torture victims become whole again. Pioneer Press, 6/8/1988.
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 1986-2005.
Record last updated: 10/25/2016
 

All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.

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