Opinion ID: 749366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Other Claims

Text: 63 Neal and Martinez asserted two other claims in the district court: (1) the SOTP violates their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and (2) requiring the completion of the SOTP as a precondition for parole eligibility violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. We hold that the district court correctly granted summary judgment to the defendants on both of these claims. 64
65 The inmates claim that the SOTP's Contract and Consent to Treat form violates their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination because it requires them to admit that they have committed sex offenses. The SOTP requires that inmates must, at a minimum, not be in denial about their crimes. As part of their participation in the SOTP, targeted inmates must sign the contract, acknowledging their agreement with nine separate points. The first point reads: I admit that I committed the offense(s) charged against me, and I agree to take full responsibility for my sexual behaviors. 66 Requiring inmates labeled as sex offenders to admit their offenses and take responsibility for their sexual behaviors as part of the treatment program does not violate the inmates' privilege against self-incrimination. The Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall be compelled in any criminal proceeding to be a witness against himself. The Supreme Court has recognized that this provision extends not only to criminal proceedings, but any proceeding in which the answers might incriminate the individual in a future criminal proceeding. Allen v. Illinois, 478 U.S. 364, 368, 106 S.Ct. 2988, 2991, 92 L.Ed.2d 296 (1986). 67 The State correctly points out that no admission made by Neal or Martinez could be used against them in a future criminal proceeding. Martinez has already been convicted of the attempted rape and has expressed no intention to collaterally attack the conviction. Double jeopardy considerations would preclude any admission by Martinez regarding the attempted rape from being used against him. For Neal, the terms of his plea agreement dismissing the sex offenses contained in his indictment prohibit the State from prosecuting him in the future for those incidents. Neal has offered no indication that he will ever move to withdraw his plea. Therefore, the possibility of any admission to those sex offenses incriminating him in the future is no more than a remote and speculative possibility, which is insufficient to trigger the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination. See Zicarelli v. New Jersey, 406 U.S. 472, 478, 92 S.Ct. 1670, 1674, 32 L.Ed.2d 234 (1972). 18 In the absence of any evidence from Neal or Martinez that there is a real probability that the State would use their admissions against them in a future criminal proceeding, the district court correctly granted summary judgment to the defendants on this claim. 68
69 Neal argues that being labeled a sex offender and being forced to participate in the SOTP violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court requires the State's conduct to be so grave that it violates contemporary standards of decency to constitute such a violation. Helling v. McKinney, 509 U.S. 25, 36, 113 S.Ct. 2475, 2481, 125 L.Ed.2d 22 (1993). We agree with the district court that the State's program was designed to identify and treat sex offenders so as to reduce the rate of recidivism among inmates released from the system. Neal, 905 F.Supp. at 820. These are important and laudable goals, and the institution of the program itself was well within the State's authority as part of its operation of correctional facilities. We cannot say that the State's pursuit of these goals or its administration of the SOTP, whether viewed as a whole or as specifically applied to Neal, violates contemporary standards of decency. Therefore, the district court correctly granted summary judgment to the defendants on this claim.