updates
The shadow prisoners at the Gulag in Marcy, New York are formally demanding better treatment. The following letter was sent by a committee of men who are organizing themselves at the Central New York Psychiatric Center. Just Future applauds their concise articulation of concrete demands coupled with clear citations to the statutory language being violated. This letter might serve as an example for the people in the other 20 systems of pre-crime preventative detention on how to effectively stand up for their rights and demand change. To: Director DEBORAH McCULLOCH c/o JEFFERY NOWICKI August 1, 2019 From: SOTP RESIDENT LIAISON…
APA’s Board of Trustees approved a task force report on sexually dangerous offenders at its meeting last month in San Diego recommending that psychiatrists vigorously oppose sexual predator laws. Opposing such laws is necessary “to preserve the moral authority of the profession and ensure continuing societal confidence in the medical model of civil commitment,” states the report. The report was written by the Task Force on Sexually Dangerous Offenders, a component of APA’s Council on Psychiatry and Law, which endorsed the report before it went to the Board for action. Paul Appelbaum, M.D., was chair of the council when the…
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Critics of “sex offender civil commitment” laws often liken them to the Soviet practices of imprisoning dissidents in psychiatric hospitals. The man who was credited for exposing this soviet practice, Vladimir K. Bukovsky, died recently at age 76. We wanted to remember him and remind Just Futurists just how alike these practices truly are.
The essence of the American criminal justice system is reactive, not predictive: You are punished for the crime you committed. You can’t be punished simply because you might commit one someday. You certainly can’t be held indefinitely to prevent that possibility. And yet that is exactly what is happening to about 5,000 people convicted of sex crimes around the country. This population, which nearly doubled in the last decade, has completed prison sentences but remains held in what is deceptively called civil commitment — the practice of keeping someone locked up in an institution for months, years or even decades for…
Persons with sex-related convictions are often deliberately excluded from the reentry picture. This LTE points that out to the Washington Post and argues that everyone is entitled to a just future. Kudos to Kirsten Darby for using this important advocacy tool to register her perspective as a member of the community, with the newspaper’s editor. I read with great interest the September 3 article [in the Washington Post] by Tracy Jan documenting the legal hurdles of those formerly incarcerated. I’ve led a faith based prison pen pal ministry for many years and have seen first hand the struggles these men…
This is a very interesting video about a man that left the United States while on probation to Permanently live in Germany as his new home to live as a free person. He shows what the new International Megan’s Law marked passports look like and talks about the reasons that they are not a problem for entering Germany. Everyone should watch this video. Those currently on the sex offender registry in the United States and those that think they will never ever have to be on the sex offender registry. Everyone that cares about the future of the United States…
The people who run these programs pretend that they are for “treatment.” For at least 45 people who were sent to Larned State Hospital it was a death sentence. The following names, placed here in memoriam, are a stark illustration of the false promise of therapeutic intent. These names remind us everyday of why we work to abolish pre-crime preventative detention systems. Individual Names of Commitments Pursuant to the Kansas Sexual Predator Act Master List: Time: 6:43 PM Revised: Wednesday, November 28, 2018 Individual…
IDHS-TDF RESIDENT DEATHS SINCE 1999 The people who run these programs pretend that they are for “treatment.” For at least 45 people who were sent to The Treatment and Detention Facility in Rushville Illinois it was a death sentence. The following names, placed here in memoriam, are a stark illustration of the false promise of therapeutic intent. These names remind us everyday of why we work to abolish pre-crime preventative detention systems. NAME DATE OF DEATH IDHS LOCATION CAUSE OF DEATH WILLIAM HILL 2000 SHERIDAN, IL AIDS CICEL HOLIDAY 2003 JOLIET, IL CANCER TAD PRATER 2003 JOLIET, IL UNKNOWN TERRY…
Overlooked by Karsjens Plaintiffs and by both Judge Frank and the 8th Circuit, in 2015 SCOTUS decided a case involving application of the substantive due process guarantee in favor of a pretrial detainee suing jail personnel for physical abuse. Significantly, SCOTUS declined to apply the Lewis requirement that the court’s conscience must be shocked by the government officials’ misconduct (including that it must be malicious and sadistic). Even more significantly (to us), those confined under commitment to mental health facilities are held to be entitled to greater deference than those held in jails on pretrial detention. The following article excerpts…
…In summary, the court hereby adopts the magistrate judge’s report and Recommendation and Supplemental Report and Recommendation in their entirety and hereby incorporates the analyses by reference in this order. Upon de novo review, the undersigned is not persuaded by any of the evidence submitted or arguments advanced for reversing the magistrate judges analysis set forth in the Report and Recommendation or Supplemental Report and Recommendation. For the reasons stated therein, summary judgement is GRANTED in favor of all defendants as to the following claims: (1) all claims based on allegations that Rodney K. Ireland, Matthew Graha, Christopher Simon, John…
1. Abolish pre-crime preventative detention laws
2. Free our friends and loved ones from dehumanizing labels
3. Realign our justice system with the values of restoration and reintegration
Just Future Project is a new initiative focused on challenging pre-crime preventative detention laws. We are a people-driven grassroots advocacy campaign dedicated to building a movement of community members demanding an end to indefinite detention regimes.
Why Is This Important?
Pre-crime preventative detention systems are a dangerous departure from the traditional values of our legal system.
We believe in justice, that persons who have caused harm may be held accountable for their actions. But justice also demands proportionality and due process, elements essential to distinguish justice from mere vengeance. The goal of any true system of justice must be restoration and re-integration, not the perpetual containment and incapacitation that have come to define the U.S. criminal legal system.