Civil Commitment

How the Use of Improper Statistics and Unverified Data Corrupts the Judicial Process in Sex Offender Cases

·June 9, 2019
·7 Comments

We begin this Article by sharing something about our past legal practice careers, as we believe that is so relevant to the topic that we focus on in this Article.…

California

Modern-Day Gulags In the Golden State

·June 4, 2019
·12 Comments

Back in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the practice known as civil commitment was legal. This meant that 20 states—which had passed laws permitting the ongoing incarceration of sex…

National

MA: State’s Highest Court Orders Release Of Sex Offender Held Since 1970s

·May 16, 2019
·6 Comments

Massachusetts' highest court ruled Thursday that a 71-year-old convicted sex offender held for more than 40 years as a sexually dangerous person can be released, after two mental health professionals…

General News

Formerly Incarcerated Sex Offenders Say Civil Commitment Programs Deny Proper Rehabilitation

·January 22, 2019
·8 Comments

Responding to several highly-publicized sex crimes and public fears, legislatures across the country have adopted statutes that allow the continued imprisonment of sex offenders after they have completed their sentences.…

National

WA: On McNeil Island, the only residents are 214 dangerous sex offenders

·October 3, 2018
·2 Comments

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

California

CA: Man Held 17 Years Without Trial Ordered Free by Appellate Court

·September 14, 2018
·5 Comments

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…

General News

The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment

·September 4, 2018
·2 Comments

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,…

National

IA: Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Survives Court Challenge

·September 2, 2018
·2 Comments

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…

National

MN: Protracted Sex Offender Program suit comes to end

·August 24, 2018
·7 Comments

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…

National

WA: Aging sex offenders on McNeil Island needed 557 medical trips last year

·July 22, 2018
·6 Comments

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…

General News

Is a life sentence for child sexual abuse just?

·July 20, 2018
·5 Comments

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 ____…

National

MA: Changing sex offender law needs to be evidence-based

·July 10, 2018
·1 Comment

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…

National

VA: Longer sentences for violent sex predators

·July 4, 2018
·2 Comments

[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…

National

VA: Groundbreaking Monday for $110 million expansion of treatment center for civilly committed sex offenders

·June 18, 2018
·5 Comments

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…

National

MA: Can there be life after civil commitment?

·June 15, 2018
·1 Comment

[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…

California

CA: Federal Court Denies State Hospital’s Motion to Dismiss

·June 6, 2018
·12 Comments

[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…

National

Post-Prison Purgatory

·May 25, 2018
·10 Comments

[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…

National

Sex Crimes and Criminal Justice

·May 5, 2018
·0 Comments

[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…