James Pesci is a detainee at the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC), a for-profit facility that houses sex offenders involuntarily committed under Florida’s Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act. Pesci is not a prisoner; like the other roughly 600 residents of FCCC, he has already served out his prison sentence. Instead, he is involuntarily committed because the State has determined that he is a “sexually violent predator” likely to engage in future “acts of sexual violence if not confined in a secure facility for long-term control, care, and treatment.”
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For many years, Pesci published a monthly newsletter, Duck Soup, which frequently excoriated FCCC’s staff, sex offender treatment program, and conditions of confinement. Pesci envisioned Duck Soup as “the uncensored pulse of the compound,” dedicated to exposing “corruption at FCCC.”
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In November 2010, Budz issued a new policy, which declared “that Duck Soup was now contraband.
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In July 2010—a few months before Duck Soup was banned—Pesci filed a pro se§ 1983 complaint against Budz alleging that the 2009 printing restrictions on … Duck Soup violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court concluded that the 2009 policy did not violate Pesci’s constitutional rights and granted summary judgment in favor of Budz.
So, where can we get his new writings, the “Instigator”. Is there a way to see his publications?
So how many drunk driving offenses can a person in Florida receive before the state psychiatrists rule the person is a habitual offender and incapable of rehabilitation? It is obviously more than two.
As a former resident of FCCC, I can confirm that it is really all about extending the prison sentences for people who have already served their time. Residents are able to get about 5 to 6 hours of treatment per week. Yet they are forced to be there 24/7. The conditions of confinement are, in many ways, worse that what they endured while in prison. The majority are forced to live in “open-bay” dorms without any privacy, almost constant noise, and a very prison like environment. Most of the officers are hell-bent on being as obnoxious and punitive as possible.… Read more »
How long were you there?
Yeah, the one thing I do know is that it’s TRUE, it was a political move for gain. I am a FORMER sex offender. I was convicted for what I did and what i didnt do. Look, I get it and hopefully other offenders will too. Keep your dam hands to yourself. I’ve been crime free 22 years and I work every day to keep that way. I had excellent sex offender therapy on the street folks. I know people wont be happy to hear this but IT WORKS! Was it easy? Nope, my therapist was a Ahole! But I… Read more »
@Cj: No hate from me.
Keep in mind that these people are not being “punished” by being in these civil commitment programs; they are being “held in the least restrictive means possible” while still possessing their civil liberties (except the one that lets them walk out the door). Banning a publication which criticizes the institution which is illegally holding them, written by detainees who possess freedom of expression, is clearly a very bad constitutional call and the judge who delivered that decision is a very bad judge. Such egregious injustices are being meted out across the U.S. as well as here on the Subducting West… Read more »