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Sunday, December 11, 2011

CHARLES WILLIAMS VS. NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS A-5962-08T3

CHARLES WILLIAMS VS. NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF

CORRECTIONS

A-5962-08T3

An inmate at the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center (ADTC)

challenged the authority of the Commissioner of the Department

of Corrections to transfer inmates to the ADTC who do not meet

the qualifications for confinement at the ADTC set forth in the

Sexual Offender Act (SOA), N.J.S.A. 2C:47-1 to -10, more

specifically the provisions of N.J.S.A. 2C:47-3. We concluded

that the very specific provisions of the SOA, as explored at

length by the Supreme Court in In re Civil Commitment of W.X.C.,

204 N.J. 179, 196-99 (2010), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.

Ct. 1702, 179 L. Ed. 2d 635 (2011), significantly limit the

Commissioner's otherwise broad discretion to assign inmates to

available institutions under N.J.S.A. 30:4-91.2, and that only

sex offenders who meet each of the three criteria set forth in

the SOA can be confined at the ADTC. Those criteria are: (1)

the offender's conduct was characterized by a pattern of

repetitive, compulsive behavior, (2) the offender is amenable to

sex offender treatment, and (3) the offender is willing to

participate in such treatment. 12-02-11