no minimum wage for civilly committed sex offenders

After they have served their court-ordered prison terms, people convicted of sex crimes are often civilly committed, ostensibly for treatment. When the acting warden at the Wisconsin Resource Center cut the pay of these patients/detainees from the minimum wage of $6.50 per hour to as little as $1.94 per hour, several filed lawsuits.

Since they were not prisoners, the residents argued they should qualify for the minimum wage just like any other employee. According to Business Week, Wisconsin's District 2 Court of Appeals rejected their argument on Wednesday. Judge Daniel Anderson, writing for the court, said the patients "do not need the minimum wage to protect their well being" since they are "cared for by the state."

I've argued in print that the hyperstigma applied to sex offenders approaches caste-like levels of second-class citizenship in the United States (though I never got around to that screenplay). The minimum wage example is just one of many legal and ethical paradoxes of sex offender civil commitment. What rights and liberties obtain for those who are no longer prisoners but will likely die behind bars?