White Power

I went to the Gothic prison Monday to interview an inmate. I was dreading it and mentioned to Eric that I'd see this guy in cuffs or I wouldn't see him.

His records reveal that he's been in almost 20 years on this incarceration and he has spent almost every day of this incarceration (until very recently) in disciplinary segregation. He was locked up on a less than 20 year charges, but he's been caught multiple times with weapons inside the prison and the department of correctioins has filed charges which resulted in additional years tacked onto his index offense. He has a very colorful history of writing letters to the wardens, librarians, and other staff which he signs White Power. He refers to the people in terms that are not used in polite company--actually, those terms are not even used in impolite company. He threatens their lives and is verbally sexually inappropriate. (He tells me that he did that intentionally because he wanted to stay in Segregation because one does not have a "cellie" in Segreation.. He likes having a private room.) For years, he filled in forms with his first name as White and his last name as Power. Recently, he has decided to behave himself and has earned enough credit to get moved from maximum to medium security and out of segregation.

The man has been in some sort of prison since he was 15. The great majority of his crimes have been drunken brawling, battery, multiple thefts and robbery, some burglaries. He's in his 50's now and has only been outside of some kind of prison 6 or 8 times for 2 or 3 months at a time. Each time he gets out, violates parole with a new crime, gets arrested, tried and convicted again. Most of the times, it's 18 months or 3 years for some relatively minor crime like robbery or theft. But, the last crime (prior to the ones committed while in prison) was for a major sex crime. He abducted a teenage male, threatened his life, and forced the youth to perform fellatio. He's had no sexual misconduct in prison except for being caught holding his genitalia in his cell and telling a correctional officer that he suspects the correctional officer would be very good at performing fellatio based on his ability to write disciplinary tickets. That got him another ticket--for insolence.

His risk rating is off the scale. His actuarial scores are as high as they get. His PCL-R is nearly a 30--right at the top of the scale. But, he does not meet the mental health criteria. He does not have a paraphilia. Based on his official record, his behavior in prison, his risk scores, and his PCL-R, he'll commit some violent crime within 3 to 4 months of release. But, there is no way I can refer him for civil commitment. He does not meet the mental health criteria. This is a profoundly dangerous, habitual criminal and he'll re-offend in some way or another. But, if a paraphilia is not pushing or driving him to re-offend sexually I cannot refer him. It would be a misuse of the law.

This is a problematic case because I know the community is going to suffer if I don't refer him for civil commitment and I cannot because to do so would misuse the law.