Controversy
Washington State's 1990 Community Protection Act was meant to address current limitations in involuntary commitment law and institutions. The existing system was designed to handle short-term treatment of serious mental disorders with the intent on quickly returning individuals to the community. The new law provides for long-term commitment of violent sexual offenders who meet the less stringent criteria of a personality disorder and/or mental abnormality which is believed to make them likely to offend again. The law is unique in that allows for the commitment of people possessing a diagnosed DSM-IV: TR Axis II diagnosis (i.e., a personality disorder) and / or an Axis I diagnosis of a sexual nature (i.e. paraphilia), along with the judgment that the person poses a certain level of further risk to others. The traditional mental health requirement for involuntary commitment requires that the person suffer from acute symptoms of a diagnosed Axis I condition.
In 2001, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the rights of two residents were violated in that during their commitment proceedings, as they were not allowed to present evidence that a less restrictive treatment alternative would have been more effective than total confinement. Since the decision, several residents in total confinement were allowed to move to private residences or halfway houses.
Currently, residents of the Special Commitment Center only receive $1 to $3 per hour for work done while in the program. A lawsuit has been filed by one of the inmates contesting that as the Special Commitment Center is a civil treatment program, not a prison, residents should be guaranteed minimum wage under federal law.
Read more about this topic: Special Commitment Center
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