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Disabled Sex Offender Lawsuit Against Washington State On Hold

NWNews | By Austin Jenkins
Published October 1, 2015 at 4:19 PM MDT
File photo of the Washington State Capitol Building
Cacophony
/
Wikimedia
File photo of the Washington State Capitol Building

Disability Rights Washington announced Thursday that it will delay the filing of a lawsuit against the state of Washington on behalf of mentally disabled sex offenders on McNeil Island at the request of the state.

The delay will give the two sides time to meet to see if they can find a solution that does not involve litigation.

The pending lawsuit alleges that cognitively impaired residents of Washington’s Special Commitment Center are languishing in “back-wards” of the facility. The Department of Social and Health Services says it has requested money in the next state budget to create new programs to better serve those residents.

The SCC is a treatment facility that houses sexually violent predators who’ve been civilly committed after completing their prison sentences.

Copyright 2021 Northwest News Network. To see more, visit Northwest News Network.

Northwest News Network
Austin Jenkins
Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."
See stories by Austin Jenkins

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