Rep. Dennis Olshove's (D-Warren) proposed legislation has two parts. Under the bill, a government agency must be created to monitor criminals convicted of sexual offenses and determine whether they are still violent. Within three months of their release date, a psychological assessment of the offender would be administered. The second phase of this proposed law would require a trial to determine whether sex offenders were still violent and unfit for society. If this were the case, these prisoners could be committed for psychiatric treatment so that they could be rehabilitated.
This bill, which is designed to protect innocent people from violent sex offenders, has significant flaws. The U.S. corrections system has several purposes - one of which is to punish those who violate the law. Of equal importance is the rehabilitation of criminals that should occur during their sentence through extensive counseling, education and job training. The creation of this proposal has a serious underlying statement - that prisons, at least in Michigan, are not doing their job. The real problem is that violent sex offenders are being released without rehabilitaton - policymakers need to focus more of their efforts on identifying the root of this problem and fixing it. These people need assistance that they are not receiving in prison. If committing offenders for psychiatric treatment is the solution to the problem in the Olshove bill, then these people should be receiving this treatment during the course of their sentence - not in addition to it.
The other glaring violation of the Fifth Amendment is that this legislation punishes a person twice for one crime. Under present law, there is no legal way to keep violent sex offenders any longer than their sentences require them to be held. Should this bill pass, it would lead down an undemocratic slippery slope. If violent sex offenders could be detained after completing their sentences, people convicted of other crimes could also be detained if deemed not fit for returning to society. The bill would open the door for all criminals to eventually be held in prison indefinitely.
The state government should focus its efforts on why criminals are not being rehabilitated during their sentences. Resources should be devoted to helping criminals return to society as productive citizens, not to jail cells or psychiatric wards. If this is adressed, there should be no need to punish criminals twice for the same crime. The state legislature should not pass the Olshove Bill because it violates fundamental rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment and does not address the problem with the state's corrections system.