Ryce Act passes Supreme Court test

State justices affirm the constitutionality of the law that confines sex offenders for treatment once prison terms end.

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 18, 2002

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the Jimmy Ryce Act, the controversial law meant to force Florida's most dangerous sex offenders into treatment rather than allowing them to go free.

The ruling stemmed from a Volusia County case involving Mitchell Westerheide, a convicted child molester who was diagnosed by experts as a sexual sadist with an antisocial personality disorder.

Westerheide, who was committed under the Ryce Act in 1999, contended his confinement violated his constitutional rights. He said the state was seeking retribution against him for past crimes.

In its ruling Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court said the statute, which went into effect in 1999, was constitutional.

"The state's purposes for the Ryce Act -- long-term mental health treatment for sexual offenders and protection of the public from them -- are both compelling and proper," Senior Justice Major B. Harding wrote. Harding has retired from the court but is temporarily on senior status.

The Florida law is based on a similar law in Kansas, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997.

In Thursday's ruling, four Florida justices said they had concerns about the constitutionality of the law, but they added they had to follow the U.S. Supreme Court's determination.

"The Jimmy Ryce statute is not going anywhere," said Michael Sinacore, the Hillsborough prosecutor who oversees local Ryce cases. "It does pass constitutional muster. We expect that as long as the Legislature continues to fund it, we're going to enforce it."

The Ryce Act was named for a 9-year-old who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 1995. The law allows the state to indefinitely confine a sex offender, even after he has served his prison term, if it is deemed likely he will strike again.

Also Thursday, the Florida court ruled on two Ryce Act cases from Hillsborough County, involving defendants Kevin Kinder and Darren J. Goode.

The court said the state waited too long to initiate civil proceedings against them after their prison term ended, thereby violating the 30-day window set by law.

Even as the Florida Supreme Court upheld the Ryce Act, the Kinder and Goode rulings signaled the court's insistence that the law be scrupulously followed by prosecutors, said John Skye, spokesman for the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office.

"You better do it right, you better not trample on his rights, and you better not just play games, because this is not vigilantism, this is serious business," Skye said.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report. Christopher Goffard can be reached at 813-226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com.

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