Special Commitment Center - History

History

Washington State's 1990 Community Protection Act allows indefinite, involuntary civil commitment of violent sexual offenders who meet certain criteria. The goal was to target "predators" that either directly target strangers or establish relationships specifically for the purpose of victimization. To be committed, an individual must be judged to have a mental abnormality that is believed to make them likely to engage in violent, predatory sexual acts.

The Special Commitment Center was established in April 1990 to manage those committed under the above act. In the beginning, the SCC managed only six people, but these numbers quickly grew at a rate of about 22 persons a year. In late 2001, a temporary Secure Community Transition Facility was established in order to comply with legislation that allowed court-ordered conditional releases. In 2003, it was moved to its present permanent location in the North Complex on McNeil Island. In May 2004, in the same complex, the SCC opened a dedicated facility to house confined residents known as the Total Confinement Facility.

Read more about this topic:  Special Commitment Center

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.
    Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)

    Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.
    Richard M. Nixon (b. 1913)