Civil Commitment Cases
McDeid v. Johnston (Minn. 2023)
Minnesota Supreme Court opinion holding that patients civilly committed to Minnesota’s Sex Offender Program (“MSOP”) had a clearly established right to transfer to a less restrictive environment within a reasonable time following issuance of a Minnesota Commitment Appeals Panel transfer order.
Kansas v. Hendricks (1997)
United States Supreme Court decision holding that state civil commitment scheme did not violate Due Process, Ex Post Facto, or Double Jeopardy constitutional provisions.
Brown v. Watters (7th Cir. 2010)
Seventh Circuit Court of appeals affirming federal district court’s denial of writ habeas corpus from petitioner who was civilly committed as SVP in Wisconsin on the basis of diagnoses of paraphilia NOS and antisocial personality disorder.
Civil Commitment Secondary Materials
Sex Offense Civil Commitment — Minnesota’s Failed Investment and the $100 Million Opportunity to Stop Sexual Violence
The Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center released a report challenging Minnesota’s allocation of sexual violence prevention resources, with a particular focus on the harms and missed opportunities caused by the extraordinarily disproportio …
Sex Offender Civil Commitment: The Treatment Paradox
Twenty-one states and the federal government have civil commitment schemes that provide for the further confinement of sex offenders after they have completed their prison sentences. These schemes survive constitutional scrutiny on the grounds that they are not a second prison sentence, but rather serve the non-criminal ends of protecting society and helping treat violent sex offenders. The underlying legislation confirms the treatment objective by elaborating statutory guidelines for treatment programs. This Comment argues that treatment–although guaranteed by statute, legislative findings, case law, and the constitution–is an empty promise. Indeed, participation in treatment harms the very offender that it purports to help. This treatment paradox arises because successful treatment and relapse prevention require that an offender discuss his sexual fantasies and past transgressions; yet, unprotected by privilege or confidentiality, these cathartic admissions are utilized in civil commitment proceedings to secure further confinement. Because the prosecution heavily relies on treatment records to show that the offender continues to suffer from a mental abnormality and because the completion of treatment does not favorably impact an offender’s chance of release, offenders often elect to forgo treatment. This treatment disincentive effectively denies offenders the opportunity to heal and to obtain release from commitment through treatment, an opportunity envisioned by statute and by the civil commitment scheme’s constitutional underpinnings.
Assessing the Real Risk of Sexually Violent Predators: Doctor Padilla’s Dangerous Data [Law Review]
This Article uses internal memoranda and emails to describe the efforts of the California Department of Mental Health to suppress a serious and well-designed study that showed just 6.5% of untreated sexually violent predators were arrested for a new sex crime within 4.8 years of release from a locked mental facility. The Article begins by historically situating sexually violent predator laws and then explains the constitutionally critical role that prospective sexual dangerousness plays in justifying these laws. The Article next explains how the U.S. Supreme Court and the highest state courts have allowed these laws to exist without requir- ing any proof of actual danger. It then describes the California study and recon- ciles its findings with those of a well-known Washington study by explaining the preventive effects of increasing age. Finally, the Article explains how these results undermine the justification for indeterminate lifetime commitment of sex offenders.
Civil Commitment News
Sex Offense Civil Commitment — Minnesota’s Failed Investment and the $100 Million Opportunity to Stop Sexual Violence
The Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center released a report challenging Minnesota’s allocation of sexual violence prevention resources, with a particular focus on the harms and missed opportunities caused by the extraordinarily disproportio …
Posted: April 25, 2024WaPo: In Arlington, a judge must decide if a nonviolent sex offender should stay incarcerated after serving his sentence
On Monday, the Circuit Court in liberal Arlington County will be the scene of a heavy-handed morality play, with prosecutors seeking lifelong incarceration for a young gay man who has already paid an extraordinary price for youthful, nonviolent sexual indiscretions. Virginia, like 19 other states and the federal government, has a Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA). Under these laws, people who have completed their criminal sentences under any of a large number of sex-related offenses can be indefinitely detained in a high-security facility until the state determines that they no longer present a risk, typically never. …
Posted: September 9, 2023The Outline: What Follows Punishment?
When people convicted of sex offenses in the United States finish their criminal sentences, they generally face a slew of regulations and restrictions — from offender registries to residency restrictions to the possibility of lifelong civil commitment — that leave them isolated, stigmatized, and surveilled. But while Richard knew that living in the free world as a convicted sex offender wouldn’t be easy, nothing prepared him for the reality. …
Posted: September 9, 2023