In Re Commitment of Shaw.

117 S.W.3d 520, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 8378, 2003 WL 22213499
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 25, 2003
Docket09-02-530 CV
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 117 S.W.3d 520 (In Re Commitment of Shaw.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Commitment of Shaw., 117 S.W.3d 520, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 8378, 2003 WL 22213499 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

STEVE McKEITHEN, Chief Justice.

The State of Texas filed a petition to civilly commit Christopher Shaw as a sexually -violent predator (SVP). See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 841.001-841.147 (Vernon 2003).1 A jury found that Shaw suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes him likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence. The trial court entered a final judgment and order of civil commitment from which Shaw appeals. Shaw raises five issues.

In his first issue, Shaw contends the Texas SVP statutory scheme is unconstitutional because it is punitive in nature and violates basic constitutional safeguards. Shaw relies on the factors set out in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 83 S.Ct. 554, 9 L.Ed.2d 644 (1963). We have considered and rejected similar complaints before. See Beasley v. Molett, 95 S.W.3d 590, 607-08 (Tex.App.Beaumont 2002, pet. filed); In re the Commitment of Mullens, 92 S.W.3d 881, 883-84 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2002, pet. filed).

In Beasley, the appellant maintained Chapter 841 is punitive because a violation of the terms of commitment is a third degree felony and a predator ... who is unable to control his behavior, is condemned to failure. See § 841.085; Beasley, 95 S.W.3d at 608. We rejected this argument. Id. “[Rjather than promoting permanent incarceration of sex offenders, the Act on its face maintains the offenders in the community while imposing on the persons certain requirements to minimize—for the benefit of both the offenders and the public—the opportunity for the offenders to commit new offenses after commitment.” Id. Society, through its elected representatives in the Legislature, may impose restrictions on a civilly committed person’s conduct and provide for enforcement of the commitment order, without the civil commitment itself being considered punitive in nature.

Similarly, the appellant in Mullens argued the Act was unconstitutional because section 841.085 serves a punitive function. Mullens, 92 S.W.3d at 884. We said in Mullens that section 841.085 “serves the goals of protection of society from future dangerous behavior and of supervision of persons being treated on an outpatient basis. The possible criminal penalty which may be imposed for a violation of a judge’s order does not render the entire Act punitive in nature.” Id. at 884. We concluded then, as we do now, that the Legislature can use the possibility of criminal sanctions to enforce the trial court’s commitment order without making the purpose of civil commitment punitive. The appellant in Mullens also argued that sec[523]*523tion 841.085 punishes the person for prior criminal conduct. We said in Mullens that section 841.085 “deals only with violations of the requirements in the commitment order, not any prior criminal conduct.” Id. Shaw’s arguments fail for the same reasons stated in Mullens and Beasley.

More recently, in In re Martinez, 98 S.W.3d 373, 375 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2003, pet. filed), we again rejected a challenge that the Act was unconstitutional as punitive in nature. There we also rejected an argument that the Act was punitive as applied to Martinez. We stated:

His issue presupposes a violation of a specific condition of the commitment order. The record reveals no violation. When an issue depends on contingent or hypothetical facts, or upon events that have not occurred, the issue is not ripe for review.

We cited Patterson v. Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, Inc., 971 S.W.2d 439, 443 (Tex.1998). Id. We repeat this observation by reproducing an extended portion of the Patterson opinion setting out and examining the doctrine of ripeness as it exists in Texas:

Ripeness, like standing, is a threshold issue that implicates subject matter jurisdiction, Mayhew v. Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex.1998), and like standing, emphasizes the need for a concrete injury for a justiciable claim to be presented.... But if standing focuses on the question of who may bring an action, see Barshop v. Medina County Underground Water Conservation Dist., 925 S.W.2d 618, 626-27 (Tex.1996), ripeness examines when that action may be brought. At the time a lawsuit is filed, ripeness asks whether the facts have developed sufficiently so that an injury has occurred or is likely to occur, rather than being contingent or remote.... Ripeness thus focuses on whether the case involves “uncertain or contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all.” [13A] WRIGHT [ET AL., FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE], § 3532.1, at 130 [ (2d ed.1984) ].

Patterson, 971 S.W.2d at 442-43 (selected citations omitted).

The record before us also entirely lacks evidentiary support showing “that an injury has occurred or is likely to occur, rather than being contingent or remote.” Id. at 442. To the extent Shaw argues the Act is unconstitutional as applied to him, again, as in Mendozar-Martinez, no violation appears in the record.

Shaw further contends that the requirement of a tracking device in section 841.082(5) serves both a punitive and deterrent function. Citing a Court of Criminal Appeals case which holds that electronic monitoring is an unreasonable condition of deferred adjudication probation, Shaw argues that if electronic monitoring is too harsh a punishment for a probationer who has not been convicted of a crime, how much more punitive must it be for someone who is civilly committed? See Ex parte Gingell, 842 S.W.2d 284, 285 (Tex.Crim.App.1992). As we noted in Beasley, the “restraints [in section 841.082] in the context of involuntary civil commitments have historically been treated as civil, not punitive.” 95 S.W.3d at 607 (citing Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346, 363, 117 S.Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501 (1997)). Further, as pointed out in Hendricks, the “State may take measures to restrict the freedom of the dangerously mentally ill. This is a legitimate nonpunitive governmental objective and has been historically so regarded.” Hendricks, 521 U.S. at 363, 117 S.Ct. 2072. Even though the person committed under the Kansas statute is subject to in-patient confinement, the Su[524]*524preme Court found the statute non-punitive. Id. Here, the person civilly committed is treated on an out-patient basis and monitored by a tracking device that will “track his location.” See §§ 841.002(10), 841.082(a)(5).

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In Re Commitment of Shaw.
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117 S.W.3d 520, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 8378, 2003 WL 22213499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-commitment-of-shaw-texapp-2003.