11-11-2010 New Jersey:When a man convicted for multiple sex crimes was sentenced to prison, he requested specialized therapy but was denied when a psychologist said he didn’t meet the criteria.
Years later, the same psychologist and others recommended that the man be civilly committed instead of freed after his prison term was up, saying he still posed a danger — in part because he hadn’t received any therapy.
The decision struck critics as incongruous, and the man — referred to only by his initials W.X.C. in court documents — appealed his case to the Supreme Court, saying his continued confinement is unconstitutional.
But the New Jersey Supreme Court disagreed Tuesday, keeping the man incarcerated.
The court, in a 5-2 opinion, said just because some offenders do not meet the criteria for treatment within the prison system does not mean they cannot be civilly committed at the end of their prison terms. More than 400 sex offenders are committed at two facilities in Avenel after the state determined they are highly likely to commit new crimes.
"The fatal flaw in defendant’s argument lies in its failure to appreciate that the two statutes are designed to serve different purposes and strive to achieve them through different regulatory mechanisms," wrote Justice Helen Hoens in the majority opinion. "The operation of the (Sexually Violent Predator Act) is neither punitive nor fundamentally unfair."
While dissenting Justices Barry Albin and Virginia Long said the man should not be released, they blasted the state’s policy as a "charade."
"Although generally the state may not be obliged to provide sex offender specific therapy to those imprisoned, the deprivation of treatment takes on constitutional significance when it is used to civilly commit a person," Albin wrote. "The state cannot deny an inmate sex-offender specific treatment and then use his failure to receive such treatment as the basis for his civil commitment."
The sex offender in this case was accused of raping two women while burglarizing their homes in 1992. He was arrested while sexually attacking a woman in a nursing home.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault and other crimes. At sentencing, the man asked to be sent to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, the state’s only prison specifically for sex offenders, to receive therapy. But the state’s evaluation said he did not meet the criteria because, as a sex offender, he was only repetitive, not compulsive.
After 11 years in prison, the man was evaluated again. The same psychologist who said he was ineligible for treatment at Avenel recommended that the state review his case for possible civil commitment, saying he "does not appear to have had any appreciable sex-offender specific psychotherapy."
The man was civilly committed in 2007. One doctor wrote that he has "not moderated his risk through treatment. He has not had treatment for his sexually inappropriate behavior."
The court’s decision was praised Tuesday by the state attorney general’s office.
"The majority’s decision correctly recognized that the Sexually Violent Predator Act serves an important public purpose and is neither punitive nor unfair as applied to sexual predators too dangerous to be released to the community," Senior Deputy Attorney General Mary Beth Wood said.
The man is now confined at one of the Special Treatment Units in Avenal where he is receiving treatment, said Joan Van Pelt, the former deputy public advocate who presented his case to the Supreme Court.
"He’s clearly made significant progress in the program over a relatively short period of time," she said. "It’s somewhat ironic, because that means had he gotten treatment while he was in prison, it was less likely he would have been referred for civil commitment." ..Source.. by Chris Megerian / Statehouse Bureau
