Washington is one of 20 states that allow civil commitment for sex offenders, a process that involuntarily holds violent sex offenders after their criminal sentences have been served if they're judged to pose a continued safety risk to the public. Washington is also one of 13 states that allows civil commitment for offenders who committed crimes when they were juveniles.

So where does Washington commit offenders who have already served their time? McNeil Island, a tiny island between Tacoma and Olympia on Puget Sound. There, the Special Commitment Center houses more than 200 people. Today, VICE News Tonight published a short documentary featuring a tour of the facility.

The documentary touches on some of the controversy that's surrounded McNeil and the state's civil commitment laws through interviewing a public defender who says that treatment in confinement has not proven to be better than treatment in the community. A national analysis by the Marshall Project has also found that most civilly committed offenders "are detained for years and, in most cases, have a slim chance of being released." Federal judges in two states have found civil commitment laws unconstitutional.

In recent years, offenders confined on McNeil have also drawn attention to conditions on the island, like a water treatment plant that has repeatedly violated water quality standards and wages as low as $1 an hour. The documentary offers a quick look at one of the most difficult questions a society can ask itself: Whether some of the most despicably viewed people in this country can change, and if so, how they should be given the chance.