Reason: 6,000 Americans indefinitely detained in a system that wastes money and doesn’t make us safer
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). Justin is one of about 6,300 Americans in such centers nationwide, according to a 2020 report by the Williams Institute at UCLA. (The federal government doesn’t provide data on people civilly committed for sex offenses). Few of these men—and they are nearly all men—have any hope of leaving. The TCCC is one of 21 such facilities in the United States.
Civil commitment is an outgrowth of the sexual psychopath laws that emerged in the 1930s. These laws indefinitely committed people labeled “mentally disordered sex offenders.” At the time, one could receive that label for consensual sex acts considered normal today: oral, anal, or same-sex sex. A person didn’t even have to be convicted of a crime to be civilly committed. While today a person can’t be civilly committed for cunnilingus, the fact that civil commitment still exists is surprising, given the decades-old research challenging its effectiveness.
People justify civil commitment by arguing that SVPs are more dangerous to society than other criminals who serve their sentences and are set free. But that’s not true, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. “People convicted of violent and sexual offenses are actually among the least likely to be rearrested, and those convicted of rape or sexual assault have rearrest rates 20% lower than all other offense categories combined,” its report on the subject says.
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Dept of Justice has a report that shows less than 5 % of people convicted of a sex offense will go on to commit another crime.
Well I guess for us, that is ONE silver lining. It could be worse than the registry, being in forever confinement. I mean I have seen people who have murdered more than one person get released from prison.
On the flip side, to be fair, if someone raped my mother, I would be so mad I would ask for them to have the death penalty. So, I can understand why we might have gotten a harsh sentence. But most other crimes, no matter what you did, other than having a felony, you are free to live your lives. For us, not so much.
The registry goes not just overboard, but for life and beyond if you are not removed before you die. And one last notation. Most crimes, the just take it case by case, not a blanket judgement. On the registry, we are basically all being punished with maybe a few different states being a bit more lenient.