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| Wayne Hicks and Hersey Lelaind. Illustration by Jenny Chang. |
"That was in 2006, when Lelaind was 26 years old. He’s been kept under lock and key ever since. His problem wasn’t the drug bust itself. But the bust prompted the authorities to review Lelaind’s checkered past. As a teenager, he had been convicted for sexual abuse against a minor -- and had served his time.
"That fact, along with other aspects of his criminal and life history, were entered into the 'Static-99,' a little-known but highly influential questionnaire that critics contend is being tragically misused. The test spit out a score that set him on the path to being locked up in a state psychiatric facility. Why? Because he might commit another crime in the future. He doesn’t know if he will ever be released."
So begins an expose on the U.S. civil commitment industry by Peter Aldhous, an award-winning science writer. Writing for Buzzfeed, Aldhous traces the stories of both Hersey Lelaind, an African American man from San Francisco, and Wayne Hicks, a gay man from the Deep South, to illustrate the life-shattering consequences of getting a bad score on a badly flawed actuarial risk instrument.
The featured narratives hold special significance for me, because I was retained as an expert in each case. Hicks was set free after the federal prosecutor read my report, while Lelaind went to trial and was civilly committed -- despite the fact that he is neither a pedophile nor a rapist.
Word on the street is that the Buzzfeed piece, "These 10 Questions Can Mean Life Behind Bars," is getting a lot of, well, buzz. I encourage readers to share it widely. Hopefully, it can help to foster public and professional dialogue on the implicit biases undergirding the civil commitment enterprise.
This is Unconstitutional and we need to make changes. These people behind Civil Commitment are not doing this correctly. It is suppose to help the people whom have a mental disorder and that's why the treatment is there, but instead it is being used as punishment and This is double jeopardy and they are using our Tax Dollars...Millions $ to run Civil Commitment. Along with that they also got paid to put these men in civil commitment. Along with the paid Doctors from not even Texas to say these men have a mental disorder after a one hour session with them,DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? Before they civil commit these men they do not even evaluate these men as how much trouble were they in while incarcerated. Or what kind of education have they completed in 120 degrees Heat. Instead it was Did they meet the sex offense criteria.All this treatment can be done in prison at the Goree Unit and all the Tax Payers Money can be used for Schools and Teachers pay. All the OVSOM have been getting paid for 15 years since none of these men have been released. Judge Seiler has been running this for years at our expense. The Sentence of Time should only be what the Judge gives not a re-sentence.Where is Federal and the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION . How can these people be held Captive in Texas? Now even Veterans are placed in this program,as they have PTSD and are not even getting treatment.
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