Assault and battery; includes certain employees of DBHDS, penalty. (SB1182)

Introduced By

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Crimes; assault and battery. Includes an employee or other individual who provides control, care, or treatment of sexually violent predators committed to the custody of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services within the enhanced penalty provision of the assault and battery section. Read the Bill »

Status

01/29/2013: Failed to Pass in Committee

History

DateAction
01/09/2013Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/13 13101368D
01/09/2013Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/11/2013Impact statement from VCSC (SB1182)
01/21/2013Reported from Courts of Justice (13-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
01/21/2013Rereferred to Finance
01/29/2013Passed by indefinitely in Finance (15-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)

Comments

Mary Devoy writes:

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services employees are not judges, they are not law enforcement officers and they are not Department of Corrections employees. They are civilians!

This bill is NOT intended to protect all DBHDS employees at ALL of their facilities where they care for children, adults with substance abuse and intellectual disabilities. It singles out, ONLY Sexually Violent Predators of the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation. Why?

The residents of the VCBR (the SVP’s) are NOT prisoners; they are mentally ill patients according to the state.

The Commonwealth goes to great effort and expense to classify these men with a mental disorder, to claim they are unable to control themselves, that they need “treatment”, to be cured. That until treatment is complete; they must be institutionalized and supervised so that they don’t impulsively act on their uncontrollable thoughts and desires. But these two bills propose that if an SVP assaults a VCBR employee, an enhanced penalty of a felony should be applied to them.

Why is this important to the Commonwealth? Civil commitment of SVP’s costs the Commonwealth lots of money, 3 to 4 times that of prison and there is only one facility with a limited number of beds.

How can the state save money and keep the SVP locked up in prison without violating their constitutional and civil rights? The answer is simple; re-imprison them for a separate and new offense, an enhanced penalty with a new sentence. A revolving door that looks legitimate to the public.