Judge troubled by allegations from civilly committed addicts
July 14, 2017
The Boston Globe
By Maria Cramer
A Suffolk Superior Court judge Friday said he was troubled that state officials had placed men civilly committed for drug treatment in a facility for sex offenders and called on the officials to find a quick alternative.
“I don’t know why someone who is committed for the treatment of alcohol and drugs should be subjected to the trappings of prison life,” Judge Anthony M. Campo said during a nearly two-hour hearing in a civil courtroom. “I want to do the right thing. I want to get these people the proper treatment. I think the best thing is to get them to a therapeutic environment that is the most appropriate.”
Eleven men recently sued the state Department of Correction and other state agencies for placing them at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, a facility for sex offenders who are serving criminal sentences or have finished their sentences but remain committed because they have been deemed too dangerous for release.
In their complaint, filed by lawyers for Prisoners’ Legal Services, the men alleged they had not received treatment at the facility and had been mistreated. They said that they were harassed by sex offenders who put staples in their food and yelled obscenities at them.