Opinion ID: 557986
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statutory Framework for Commitment.

Text: 7 Under Massachusetts law, a sexually dangerous person (SDP) is 8 any person whose misconduct in sexual matters indicates a general lack of power to control his sexual impulses, as evidenced by repetitive or compulsive sexual misconduct by either violence against any victim, or aggression against any victim under the age of sixteen years, and who, as a result, is likely to attack or otherwise inflict injury on such victims because of his uncontrolled or uncontrollable desires. 9 Mass.Gen.L. ch. 123A, Sec. 1 (1986). The DMH is directed to establish and maintain a facility for the care, custody, treatment and rehabilitation of such persons. Id. at Sec. 2. A proceeding to determine whether an individual should be committed as sexually dangerous can be initiated in any of three ways: upon motion of the state trial court or commonwealth (following conviction for some specified sexual offense), id. at Sec. 4; at the request of the head of a correctional facility (following sexually assaultive behavior on an inmate's part while in custody), id. at Sec. 6; or upon voluntary application, id. at Sec. 7. 2 10 Although the preliminary steps differ with respect to different classes of involuntary initiates, 3 the adjudicative processes for determining SDP status are largely the same. First, the individual is committed to the Treatment Center for a period of up to sixty days and examined by two qualified specialists. Id. at Secs. 4, 6. During this period, the examiners submit a report and recommend a disposition. Id. If the report does not clearly indicate sexual dangerousness, no further proceedings are conducted and the individual is not sent to the Treatment Center. See id. at Secs. 5, 6. If, however, the report clearly indicates that the individual is an SDP, the matter goes before the state superior court. Id. at Sec. 5. If the court concludes, after a hearing, that the commonwealth has carried the burden of proving sexual dangerousness beyond a reasonable doubt, see Commonwealth v. Walsh, 376 Mass. 53, 55, 378 N.E.2d 1378 (1978) (discussing burden of proof), it can then commit such person to the center ... for an indeterminate period of a minimum of one day and a maximum of such person's natural life. Mass.Gen.L. ch. 123A, Sec. 5. Whichever route is followed, the Treatment Center has no authority to reject placements. It is similarly without authority to expel patients who obstruct, ignore, or resist available treatment, or to remit such patients to any other facility. 11 Before 1986, chapter 123A did not allow the superior court to sentence a defendant and commit him to the Treatment Center. Rather, the court had to impose the commitment in lieu of sentencing. Hence, if the referral stemmed from a criminal conviction, the commitment would become, in effect, a part of the individual's sentence. If the referral originated in the course of an individual's imprisonment, or after 1986, the criminal sentence would run concurrently with the individual's confinement at the Treatment Center. See Mass.Gen.L. ch. 123A, Sec. 5. 4 12 Once committed, a patient remains at the Treatment Center until the superior court determines that he is no longer an SDP. Mass.Gen.L. ch. 123A, Sec. 9 (Supp.1990). A patient may file a petition for release once a year, although the DMH may file such a petition at any time. Id. The commonwealth receives, and often uses at judicial hearings, reports issued by the Restrictive Integration Review Board (RIRB). The RIRB is composed of three Treatment Center staffers and three outside clinicians. Its primary duty is to evaluate, no less than annually, each patient committed to the Treatment Center in order to determine the progress of therapy and the advisability of permitting him to reenter the outside community on a limited basis. See id. at Sec. 8. 13 At a release hearing, the commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the patient is still sexually dangerous. Walsh, 376 Mass. at 55, 378 N.E.2d 1378. If the commonwealth does not carry the devoir of persuasion, the petitioner, depending on the status of his original conviction, is either released unconditionally or transferred to DOC custody. See Mass.Gen.L. ch. 123A, Sec. 9. 14