WA: On McNeil Island, the only residents are 214 dangerous sex offenders
Civil commitment centers, which exist in less than half of US states, are meant as a community safeguard, but they’re riddled with controversies. Full Article
CA: Man Held 17 Years Without Trial Ordered Free by Appellate Court
Attributing a California man’s 17-year detention awaiting trial for commitment as a sexually violent predator to a “systematic breakdown in the public defender system,” a California appellate court ruled Wednesday…
The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment
Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offenses—and sometimes, those with no conviction at all—to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence. In January,…
IA: Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Survives Court Challenge
A nearly six-year-old lawsuit challenging Iowa’s program for keeping sex offenders confined after they serve their prison terms has been dismissed by a federal judge in Sioux City. U.S. District…
MN: Protracted Sex Offender Program suit comes to end
A long-running class-action lawsuit over the constitutionally of Minnesota's civil commitment program for sex offenders effectively ended Thursday when a federal judge dismissed the remaining claims but stood by his…
WA: Aging sex offenders on McNeil Island needed 557 medical trips last year
Serving the medical needs of an aging population civilly committed to the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island means more doctor appointments and costs. The off-island trips for care, for…
Is a life sentence for child sexual abuse just?
Arguably Chicago’s most notorious figure in the national Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal was committed indefinitely Wednesday to a state facility for sex offenders. In refusing to release ____…
MA: Changing sex offender law needs to be evidence-based
Massachusetts is hardly soft on sex offenders, being one of only 20 states and the District of Columbia that incarcerate people convicted of sex offenses after they’ve completed their criminal…
VA: Longer sentences for violent sex predators
[fredericksburg.com - 7/2/18] THE Commonwealth of Virginia recently announced plans to expand a facility that treats convicted sex offenders who have served their prison sentences, but are considered too dangerous…
VA: Groundbreaking Monday for $110 million expansion of treatment center for civilly committed sex offenders
Officials kick off a 258-bed expansion of Virginia’s sex offender treatment center Monday, but caution it could run out of room again not long after completion. The Virginia Center for…
MA: Can there be life after civil commitment?
[narsol.org - 6/15/18] By Sandy . . . Over forty years ago, Wayne Chapman was convicted of raping two boys. He claimed to have had as many as a hundred…
CA: Federal Court Denies State Hospital’s Motion to Dismiss
[ACSOL - 6/6/18] A U.S. district court today denied a Motion to Dismiss filed by Coalinga State Hospital. Because of the denial, a lawsuit filed on behalf of two patients…
Post-Prison Purgatory
[theinvestigativefund.org - 5/23/18] 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…
Sex Crimes and Criminal Justice
[washingtonspectator.org 5/4/18] Formerly incarcerated sex offenders say civil commitment programs deny proper rehabilitation May 4, 2018 By Barbara Koeppel Responding to several highly publicized sex crimes and public fears, legislatures…
MN: Minnesota Senate passes bill to tighten sex offender, mental health commitment rules
[startribune.com 4/23/18] A proposal that would make it more difficult to release convicted sex offenders and people with mental illness is gaining new momentum at the Minnesota Capitol, as the…
IA: 2 Convicted of Sex Crimes Can’t Be Held Indefinitely
The Iowa Supreme Court has dismissed the state's efforts to confine two men convicted for sex abuse crimes indefinitely under the state's law allowing civil commitment of sexually violent predators.…
NY: State police: Sex offender’s death accidental at Central New York Psychiatric Center
[lohud.com] State police have ruled that a sex offender’s death inside Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy was accidental. Investigators determined Philip Barbato, 47, accidentally hanged himself with string…
TX: Weekend Read: They served their prison sentences, but they’re still locked up
[splcenter.org] Jason Schoenfeld already served a full prison sentence, but he’s back behind bars — not because of what he’s done, but because of what the state of Texas says…