Source: everythinglubbock.com 4/11/22
LITTLEFIELD, Texas – Protestors gathered in front of the Civil Commitment Facility in Littlefield on Saturday morning to shine a light on the injustices they said are happening within the barbed-wire fences of the former prison.
Texas created the Civil Commitment Program in 1999; like 20 other states, this kind of program allows state agencies to mandate sex offenders, who have already served their time in prison, to partake in treatment programs intended to mitigate possible reoffending in the future.
In 2015, Governor Abbott reformed the program and worked with private contractors to set up a treatment facility in Littlefield, but the advocates said the program isn’t doing what it was created to do.
Protestors told KLBK News that they believe residents’ civil rights have been violated.
“We don’t support anyone committing crimes- I want to make that clear. This is supporting people being released [from treatment] after they’ve served their time,” said Kevin Word with Texans Against Civil Commitment.
According to its website, “The Texas Civil Commitment Office is a small state agency tasked with providing intensive supervision and treatment to sexually violent predators.”
The agency said it focuses on public safety, supervision and treatment, but protestors argued that the program is a for-profit scheme by private groups.
“Murderers are being let out. They’re not being post-convicted and held because they might do something. That’s why these men are here- because they might do something,” Word said.
I noticed something interesting “The individuals who reside at TCCC are civilly committed sexually violent predators. A sexually violent predator, by definition, is a repeat sexually violent offender who suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes the sexually violent predator likely to engage in repeated, predatory acts of sexual violence. Sexually violent predator civil commitment is governed by Chapter 841 of the Texas Health and Safety Code.” If a sexually violent predator , by definition , is a repeat offender, then why do many with said label only have one victim and they received it due to the victims age, NOT because they had multiple victims?
Take a look at the rules the so-called “residents” are required to agree to. And they claim it’s not a prison?!?
These men have fully served their time. They are shipped to a prison in the middle of nowhere very far from most all Texas population areas.
These men are locked up for crimes they might commit in the future.
More men die there from medical issues and suicide than get out. They are supposedly there to go through treatment that was not provided in prison. It is my understanding that the private company running the facility is being directed by the state to not let these men out. It is my understanding that treatment staff has turned over 4-5 times since 2015 because they see the bullsh_t once they get involved. Every time this happens, the men have to start completely over with treatment. Thus they can never get out.
Prior to 2015, the men would get out of prison, go through rehabilitation/treatment programs while getting support from their families and with some of the men working. I was told the head of the legislature criminal justice committee was actually the person who pushed the bill to take these men out of society and put them into civil commitment. If true, that is appalling to me that the head of the criminal justice committee would do this, what part of “justice” did he not get as part of his job title?
I met a few moms with sons locked in this civil commitment facility and was told that sometimes it takes years just to even get permission to write to their sons and the men are allowed very little if any contact with the outside world and the facility has to approve who they can write to and that process can sometime take years for the approval. One mom told me it took 7 years to get approval to write to her son and for her son to write back.
The men are being punished twice for the same crime. If I correctly remember what I was told, they are lucky to even have a hearing before being sent, and if so, it is all a sham, where they are not allowed an attorney and where they have to prove they will not commit a crime in the future and are not dangerous to society. The state has shifted the burden of proof to the defendant.
Civil commitment is so unconstitutional. The Texas lawmakers and the governor are traitors to this country by sticking their middle finger at the constitution. Traitors to this country should be locked in prison for life.
A visiting judge had ruled the Texas civil commitment unconstitutional, but of course the good o’ boys appeal court ruled the visiting judge made an error in his opinion. So the program lives on and in Texas there is nothing that can be done because the politicians will not get rid of the program or else they appear soft on crime and the Texas courts squashed any attempt to say it is unconstitutional.
Human rights abuse is so pervasive in this country. It makes me sick to my stomach.
one word identifies this … privatize …. = $$$$$
Has anyone heard of the use of V2K or RNM ?
When I was in prison in Michigan, I watched guys convicted of drug offenses coming and going through a revolving door. A guy would get a parole and a few weeks or a couple months later he would be back in on a new drug charge. After serving the minimum, he was released on parole again and then he’d be right back. I saw this happen many many times to many different guys, yet there was no civil commitment for these offenders. Oddly enough, the very few guys who were paroled from a sex crime never returned to prison.
“TCCO said in a statement to KLBK News today that these allegations are not true and said 13 people have been released from the program since 2016 and only three “sexually violent predators have passed away.”
Only three? You only lost three “predators” to your program? Wow, let me give you a gold star. I love how you heartless bureaucrats say they just “passed away.” Boy, you guys sure know how to polish a turd and make it shine
“TCCO’s reported statistics as of April 11, 2022:
• 552 total civilly committed sex offenders from 112 counties: 111 in prison and 437 in the community…………….
……..Population is 54.74% Caucasian, 25.00% African-American, 19.89% Hispanic, 0.18% Native
American and 0.18% other.”
25% of civilly committed sex offenders in Texas are African-American. While the state’s African-African population is 13%
What does it take to convince people that institutionalized racism is prevalent in this country? As an old white man myself, even I can see the obvious.