The lack of space in drug treatment facilities has unwelcome consequences for the general public. From time to time, prisoners leave prison before serving their sentences. The Minister of Social Affairs is under pressure.
Stuttgart/Heidelberg (dpa/lsw) – As there are no places in the rehabilitation centres, offenders in Baden-Württemberg continue to walk freely. Their number remains at a high level. According to the Ministry of Justice, 33 convicted criminals who should actually have been in the so-called prison were released this year because they had to wait too long. In the previous year, 35 offenders could not be allocated a place in a therapeutic facility in good time.
“The hut is on fire,” FDP deputy head in the state parliament, Jochen Haussmann, told the German news agency. Among those released were men who had been convicted of dangerous bodily harm. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, perpetrators of serious violent crimes are not released early. “Development doesn’t exactly increase people’s sense of security,” said Haussmann.
Bottlenecks in treatment facilities expected to be resolved soon – SPD criticizes
According to his own statements, Minister Manfred Lucha’s (Green) social affairs department is doing everything possible to increase capacity. “Of course, the current plans aim to eliminate the current bottlenecks,” said a spokesman for the green politician.
With the completion of a clinic in Schwäbisch Hall by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025, so many therapy places should be available again in the long term that there will be no more releases due to lack of space.
The SPD parliamentary group is also tough on Lucha: “If the detainees simply leave because there are no suitable places in Baden-Württemberg, this is a major blow to the rule of law, which the Minister of Social Affairs is idly watching” said SPD prison expert Jonas Weber. The ministry turned a blind eye to this problem for years.
Psychiatric centers in Baden-Württemberg are filled to the brim
In September 2022, around 1,400 people were admitted to forensic institutions, a third more than in 2017. There are many reasons for the tense situation in Baden-Württemberg. The seven psychiatric centers where the therapies take place are filled to the brim. In addition to the densification in existing facilities, leading to aggression between patients, new buildings and expansions are planned, but they will not provide a breath of fresh air in the short term. The new buildings at the Calw and Wiesloch locations will not create around 100 new therapy places until the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024. 100 places are to be created in Schwäbisch Hall. This filled the gaps, the ministry said.
But until these projects are completed, Lucha still needs an interim solution, which he believed he had found with the conversion of the former Heidelberg prison “Fauler Pelz”. But this plan meets fierce resistance in the city, with Mayor Eckart Würzner (independent) at the helm, in the city council and in the university, which wants to use the complex itself. The city is also pursuing legal action against the plans for state ownership in several lawsuits.
According to the FDP, the fault of the lack of space lies solely with the Minister of Social Affairs Lucha
According to politician FDP Haussmann, Lucha alone is responsible for the misery. “He failed to involve the city and find a compromise.” In reality, the minister should have reacted earlier to the development. He rejected the FDP’s proposal to organize admission in other federal states without space constraints. Despite the confusing situation, both opposition politicians see no other way for Lucha than to approach the city again, because there is no alternative to the “lazy fur” in Heidelberg.
Above all, the vague legal requirements of Article 64 of the Penal Code for placement in forensic institutions and their generous interpretation by the courts have led to overcrowding of the institutions. In a bill from the Federal Ministry of Justice, welcomed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the opposition, the rules are to be tightened.
For three years, criminals have been released from prison because there are not enough places
In 2019, the criminals had to be released for the first time in the South West due to lack of space. A year later, six people were able to leave prison because the so-called organizational detention lasted too long – “organizational detention” is the period of time between the sentence and the transfer to the prison system, a period of time is not specified specific time for this. It is constitutional if the transfer from the detention center to the penitentiary is ordered immediately after the sentence. If not, the courts will order his release.
At the end of September this year, the Ministry of Social Affairs reported 74 people in Section 64-related organizational detention, most with waiting periods exceeding three months. Another 154 offenders were awaiting a place in therapy on other legal grounds.
