Jennifer Williams’ son, Justin Sanchez, was a teenager when he committed the crimes that would land him behind bars. Now 31, he is still a prisoner—even though he’s served his sentence for the two sexual offenses he committed at ages 15 and 16.
Like many others who have served their time for sex crimes, Justin is trapped indefinitely in the Texas Civil Commitment Center (TCCC).
The TCCC is a retrofitted former juvenile prison in Littlefield, Texas. Justin is not allowed to leave, to have a job, or to talk with his mother on the phone. The institution is supposed to help reintegrate its inmates into society via therapy. In reality, Justin and the 500 or so other inmates spend most of their days reading, watching TV, and playing video games. Six hours a week, if that often, Justin has group therapy.
Justin’s wife Stacy Sanchez, whom he met and married while in custody, points out that he has “never been a free adult….He’s never driven a car or been able to have a job.”
Justin had a tumultuous childhood. “My son had a hole in his mattress from peeing the bed so much,” Williams says. He was frequently beaten.
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Williams was partly relieved. The jail was much closer to her home than was the juvenile facility, only a 10-minute drive. But when she first visited him, she saw something was wrong. He told her he’d been raped. She began punching the glass between them. She found an employee and begged him to get Justin out of there. Justin was put in solitary confinement for nine months and then moved to a Clemens Unit prison in Brazoria County for four years.
Nine months before he was supposed to be released, when he was 23, Justin was told he’d be moved to another facility to be assessed by a psychologist. According to Williams, the psychologist concluded that Justin had a behavioral abnormality that placed him at a high risk to reoffend. Because he had two offenses, he was put on trial to determine if he should be placed in civil commitment.
“I’ve never heard of civil commitment at this time, and I’m researching it, and I was like, ‘There’s no way they’re ever going to do this to my kid,'” Williams says. She couldn’t afford an attorney, so Justin was assigned one. He lost the trial. The judge had Justin civilly committed and labelled a sexually violent predator (SVP).
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Justin, who was 24 at the time, was the youngest person at the center, where the average age was 59. Six years later he is only in Tier 2, with no idea of when he’ll be released.
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Prison is arguably more humane than civil commitment—at least prisoners know if and when they are supposed to get out. In Minnesota, six times more men have died in the center than have been released.
Data that is around 50 years old presented by established and credentialed people who know the matter is being ignored about this concept which continues to be used. Sound familiar? It is embarrassing.