Civil Commitment in Vermont

Lawmakers are considering a statute which will make institutionalization of offenders easier in Vermont:

Buoyed by the possibility of getting federal grants to support civil confinements, three lawmakers said Thursday they will press the Legislature to pass a law calling for some sex offenders to be locked up indefinitely.

Rep. Kurt Wright, a Republican from Burlington, said the civil confinement proposal would apply to those currently in the Vermont corrections system and nearing the end of their sentences without completing sex-offender treatment.

The proposal, similar in some respects to ones floated by the Douglas administration in recent years, drew renewed skepticism Thursday from Democrats.

House Speaker Gaye Symington said the state should not put its trust in hopes for federal grant money when Washington is reeling with deficits "up to the moon."

The motivation for the move is interesting.  If federal grant money supplements public fear as a reason for lawmakers to expand civil commitment for sex offenders, that could be a potent combination in other states as well.'

HT: Corrections Sentencing

Comments

[Ilah]

"If federal grant money supplements public fear as a reason for lawmakers to expand civil commitment for sex offenders, that could be a potent combination in other states as well."

That combination is what fueled the registry to begin with. States have never been required, by federal law, to have a publicly-accessable list of registrants. However, states that do not lose 10% of their Justice Assistance Grant funding from the feds. Additional federal support for the registry is based upon the number of registrants, hence the numerous laws that expanded the number of crimes subject to registration, and suddenly extended the length of registration for tens of thousands nationwide.