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
