RI weighs involuntary commitment for sex predators

4-7-2011 Rhode Island:

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Faced with the impending release of a man convicted in the brutal slaying of a 5-year-old boy, Rhode Island lawmakers are considering new ways to keep violent sexual predators off the streets -- possibly for good.

Lawmakers reviewed legislation Wednesday to allow the state to hold sexual predators in a mental health facility for treatment once they've served their criminal sentence.

Some 20 states already have civil commitment laws on the books, despite criticism from some mental health professionals and civil liberties groups that question the cost, legality and value of such programs.

Lawmakers who support the legislation say Woodmansee's early release shows that such a law is worth it if it protects the public.

"Occasionally we have extraordinarily violent, perverse predators who are a danger to society," said the bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Joseph McNamara, D-Warwick. "They get due process. They can appeal. But there comes a point in time where protecting the public must be the priority."

Woodmansee killed Jason Foreman in South Kingstown in 1975 and kept the boy's shellacked bones in his home for years. He was convicted in 1983 after he attacked a paperboy.

Woodmansee is scheduled to be released in August. He shaved 12 years off his sentence by earning good behavior credits in prison.

John Foreman, Jason Foreman's father, has said he thinks about killing Woodmansee every day. Lawmakers say they're sympathetic.

"Were this individual to be released I would not lose a moment's sleep if he were issued a death sentence by a mob," said Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster. "If we had the death sentence in Rhode Island I think it certainly would apply to this individual."

Supporters of civil commitment say it not only protects the public but offenders too, and gets them the mental health treatment they need.

Under McNamara's bill, authorities would have to show to a court that the offender is likely to commit another violent sexual act without treatment. Committed individuals could appeal the decision and petition for their release. They would be re-evaluated annually.

McNamara's bill would apply only to individuals convicted of sexual offenses after July 1.

Current law already allows the state to involuntarily commit a person, but only for short periods of time. Authorities are evaluating Woodmansee to determine whether he is eligible for involuntary commitment.

More than 2,000 people have been placed in similar treatment programs around the nation; a few hundred have been released.

"People go in, but they don't go out," said Charles Ewing, a psychologist and law professor at the University of Buffalo who has researched civil commitment programs. "They're expensive and unproven, but who is going to stand up in a state legislature and say, 'Let's be soft on the sex offenders'?"

The cost of putting an individual in a sexual predator commitment program is two to six times higher than the cost of prison, Ewing said.

There's no cost estimate for his bill, but McNamara said he thinks the public would be willing to pay in exchange for keeping predators away from their communities.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin oppose the bill on grounds that it might be unconstitutional. The Mental Health Association of Rhode Island doesn't like the bill either, according to Executive Director Vivian Weisman.

"It's really just putting them in a jail with another name, and taking resources from mental health treatment to do it," she said.

Lawmakers also reviewed a proposal to make rapists, murderers and certain other criminals ineligible for credits toward early release. Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-South Kingstown, introduced the bill after hearing from constituents angered and frightened by Woodmansee's looming release. She worked on the bill with Kilmartin.

"I've had numerous parents come up to me and tell me they worry about their children's safety," Tanzi said. "People haven't forgotten this case." ..Source.. David Klepper