What is Civil Commitment? Our answer is going to make you think, how can the United States do this to people? See this explanation..
How many people are civilly committed nationally (State-by-State)? Numbers can be found by clicking HERE
How can these laws be changed? Do you want to get involved in changing civil commitment laws in your state? Click HERE then chose your state to see what the bills Lawmakers are proposing. Then write to lawmakers and voice your opinions, hopefully it will make a difference.
Are there any women in civil commitment? Yes, in a few states, these articles will explain where. We reference articles because things change far too often.
Can a person be civilly committed based on offenses committed as a juvenile? Yes, note this comment by Karen Franklin:
"The study, just published in the journal Sexual Abuse, is one in a growing corpus pointing to flaws in clinical prediction of risk. It tracked about 200 juvenile delinquents eligible for civil commitment as Sexually Violent Persons (SVP's). The state where the study was conducted was not specified; at least eight of the 20 U.S. states with SVP laws permit civil detention of juveniles, and all allow commitment of adults based on offenses committed as a juvenile."
Are there any juveniles in civil commitment? Yes, see these articles to find out which states.
Further, Pennsylvania is the ONLY state that commits ONLY juvenile offenders, believe it or not, see their recently posted research. Hard to believe...
"Much like registration and notification, currently there is variation across states in how and whether juveniles are subject to civil commitment proceedings. For example:
- Arizona and Florida stipulate that offenders must be at least 18 years of age before they are eligible for consideration for civil commitment.
- Illinois, Washington and Wisconsin explicitly state that juveniles may be subject to commitment at any age.44
- One state (Pennsylvania) authorizes civil commitment for adjudicated youth “aging out” of the juvenile justice system whose mental abnormality influences their risk to reoffend sexually.
- Washington’s Sexually Violent Predator statute permits the civil commitment of juvenile sex offenders found to be a high risk to the public. Since the law’s enactment in 1990, to the end of 2003, 31 juvenile sex offenders were identified as possibly meeting the statutory criteria for civil commitment. These individuals represent approximately 1 percent of the total juvenile sex offenders paroled in this 13–year period.45
Has anyone died or committed suicide while in civil commitment? Yes and Yes. Deaths and suicides are reported in a State's Fact-Sheet; see left side of blog for links to individual state Fact-Sheets (FS-State). Near the bottom of the state's fact-sheet you will find direct links to stories explaining how and what happened. If there are no stories then there will not be a direct-link; ex: Deaths=0 Suicides=0.
Has there been any vigilantism affecting folks released from civil commitment facilities? Vigilantism is rare, but hearings before placement and protests to placement of released folks, is definitely a problem; see ex HERE. Now, recently there was a severe case of vigilantism; see HERE. Vigilantism is reported in a State's Fact-Sheet; see left side of blog for links to individual state Fact-Sheets (FS-State), or if you want to read all such vigilantism no mater what state it occurred in; see HERE.
How do I find out what "Laws or Ordinances" are, or have been, considered for a state? OK, click on the Fact-Sheet (Left side of blog) for the state you want to know about. Within that fact-sheet you will see, under Legislative: Articles where Lawmakers and others have or are discussing problems and proposed laws. Within that sentence is a direct-link to any articles about "laws and ordinances." If the link shows none, then we have found no articles discussing laws or ordinances.
Has anyone ever won release, or beaten the state's attempt to civilly commitment them, through a court action? Actually YES, we keep some of those so other folks (or lawyers) can see how the case was won. see Hearing-Won. And just as important are cases that lost in a court action, see Hearing-Lost. Such cases also have important information for lawyers fighting these actions. Both links are on left side of blog and updated regularly. BTW, usually the names of lawyers are mentioned. Hint Hint.
Does HIPAA (Sometimes referred to as HIPPA) (correct title: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA) apply to civil commitment proceedings? Yes, but in a slightly modified sense; to involved to explain here. See the FULL HIPAA law remembering it can be modified for CC proceedings.
One who goes to a physician in order to obtain medical benefit to himself or his family has substantial privacy interests that may or may not be constitutionally protected. One who is compelled to submit to medical examination for the benefit of the public, to determine whether because of mental disease he is likely to engage in sexually predatory behavior, does not. Seaton v MaybergNow we try to keep track of any CC action that even mentions HIPAA so folks can see how, if at all, HIPAA is used in relation to a civilly committed person; see HIPAA for a few. And we also have found an action where HIPAA may have been violated in a CC action; see HIPAA-Violation. (Both on left side of blog, and regularly updated).
Are there persons civilly committed and living in the community? Yes. Most of Texas CC folks are living in the community, that is the way their program works; now they have a facility where some folks are housed. And, in Washington SOME of their CC folks are handled that way as well. Finally, all states that release CC folks after a period of time and live in the community under strict supervision.
