At Coalinga State Hospital, located in a desolate, dusty part of California’s Central Valley, 200 miles north of Los Angeles, 37-year-old Cory Hoch stands out. He’s well liked by other patients, and his dry sense of humor and lively intelligence come across almost immediately. His feathered earring and neon-green sneakers infuse some color into the surroundings, while his khaki scrubs identify him as a patient.
Since the age of 19, Hoch has lived most of his life in some form of cage. He is one of the more than 5,000 people in 20 states in the federal hospital system. They are trapped in a post-prison purgatory for those convicted of sex crimes, a system called “civil commitment.” While we found that many people with sex offense convictions are released after their sentences are up, some, like Hoch, serve their time and then are held indefinitely in state hospitals, exchanging one form of prison for another.
Under civil commitment, Hoch is supposed to be treated (and held) only until he is considered no longer a “risk to the public,” according to mental health experts contracted by the state. In reality, he may spend the rest of his life locked up. Perhaps more troubling is the overrepresentation of people like Hoch — gay, bisexual, and queer men — who are trapped in this system.
A powerful article indeed…. but…. there seems to be 2 issues, one of civil commitment and another of lifestyle choices. Why did the 2 have to be mixed into one article? Is post-prison purgatory (hell) an issue or only an issue with ones in a lifestyle not so accepted by our biased and bigoted society?
I saw a program on CSPAN in which Mr. Souter stated he would now vote differently on Kansas V Hendricks. I will find the link.
When would not authority claim safety imperative in the utilization of ex-post law?
NEVER!
“Congress shall pass ‘no law’….”
What does that say about the state of our republic? The constitution in real time?
It IMHO is a figment. If our government refuses basic limitation, laid in charter, then no limit exists. The current debt load is reflective of the same notion.
Just play Taps.
Great article!
We need more and more peek through this draconian system to finally expose all that is wrong with it.
What a disgrace this is for California. I never thought our democratic state would be so hateful and revengeful to vote for or pass such horrifying measures/laws.
Yes, and I think (I hope) in the near future we will realize how wrong this is and has been….
I wonder what proportion of registrants are gay and bisexual men. A lot of conservatives are very unhappy with the social progress of the LGBT community, especially following the 2003 Lawrence vs. Texas ruling. Police still target gay men in public bathrooms, attempting to entrap them. Gay men are still on registries for consensual sex with other adult gay men prior to the 2003 ruling.
In Maine, statutes specifically allow judges to give harsher sentences to offenders if the victim is the same gender as the offender. Law enforcement in many states use the Static-99 to determine risk, which can affect probation requirements and other aspects of supervision and civil commitment. The Static-99 is notoriously biased against gay men – it penalizes offenders for having male victims (and the Static-99 only applies to male offenders), and it penalizes people for never having lived with a domestic partner or being married.
Here in California the law states that unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor is NOT a registrable offense, whereas sodomy or oral copulation with a minor IS a registrable offense. The last court to look at this reasoned that the state had an interest in protecting sexual intercourse because it could result in a pregnancy and thus they did not want to disenfranchise men who may need to be caring for newborn children. As a result, all illegal sexual acts between same-sex couples result in registration, but for opposite-sex couples, some illegal sexual acts, specifically the most traditional kind, does not require registration. See People v. Hofsheier (2006) and Johnson v. Department of Justice (2015).
The plight of all registrants is equally important, but understanding how bias affects specific classes of people will help us reform and ultimately eliminate the registry. I think it’s akin to understanding why racial minorities are disproportionately prosecuted for drug offenses and violent crimes. Make no mistake, the fight against the registry is a civil rights movement, nothing less, and although some of us are ashamed of our mistakes, we should never be ashamed of our humanity, nor stand for its compromise.
These discrepancies ……are the exact reasons why it is absurd to expect and demand ex cons to abide by ever changing laws and be subject to punishment if not obeyed ! If the law wants everyone to know of offenses, the law should put all information on sex offender websites ! And all crimes have database sites for all crimes and show live executions ! We The People can have one hell of a POW WOW ! And all HELL can break loose with Civil unrest ! But hence we the readers know hypocrisy works silently and deadly …… slowly killing individuals in the name of the Law !