[Note: Friends of Justice is a personal blog. I speak only for myself.]
From the Dobbs Wire. if you want to join The Dobbs Wire email list or have something to say: info@thedobbswire.com Twitter: @thedobbswire
“Twenty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government have laws that authorize civil commitment of sex offenders who would otherwise be released after serving their prison terms. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in 1997, saying it was appropriate for people who “suffer from a volitional impairment rendering them dangerous beyond their control.”
“That logic is puzzling. The state punishes people who commit sex crimes based on the assumption that they could and should have controlled themselves. But when it is time for them to be released after completing the punishment prescribed by law, the state says that was not actually true; now they must be locked up precisely because they can’t control themselves.”
