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    Mitchell Hamline School of Law, located in St. Paul, Minnesota offers a rigorous, practice-based experience, preparing graduates to serve clients and communities. Our motivated students study full time or part time, on-campus or partially online in the way that fits their lives.

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Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center

Civil Commitment

Litigation and Policy Resource Center

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Recent Cases

  • State v. Brown, No. A-39-19 (N.J. 2020)

  • In re Gadlin (Cal. 2020)

  • In re Commitment of Stephenson (Wis. 2020)

  • State v. Batson (Wash. 2020)

  • State v. Genson (Kan. Ct. App. 2020)

  • In re Stoddard (Tex. 2020)

  • Does v. Wasden (9th Cir. 2020)

  • State v. Townsend (Ohio 2020)

  • United States v. Bobal (11th Cir. 2020)

  • Johnson v. Superintendent (N.Y. 2020)

Contact Information

Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center

875 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55105

Professor Eric Janus, Director

eric.janus@mitchellhamline.edu

Guy Hamilton-Smith, Legal Fellow

guy.hamiltonsmith@mitchellhamline.edu

Civil Commitment Cases

In re Commitment of Stephenson (Wis. 2020)

Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion holding that expert evidence was not required in order to continue to find that a petitioner met the criteria for indefinite civil detention, and that the evidence was sufficient at trial.

In re Stoddard (Tex. 2020)

Texas Supreme Court opinion reversing a lower court on the correct standard of review for factual insufficiency claims in SVP commitment proceedings.

Bilal v. Geo Care (11th Cir. 2020)

11th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversing in part a lower court dismissal of a civil detainee who brought a lawsuit alleging violation of his Due Process rights in connection with his transport to a court hearing and detention in a jail.

Civil Commitment Secondary Materials

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.

Sex Offender Civil Commitment to Prison Post-Kinglsey

Arielle W. Tolman, Sex Offender Civil Commitment to Prison Post-Kingsley, 113 Nw. U. L. Rev. 155 (2018)   [Ed Note: This article is published as Arielle W. Tolman, Sex Offender Civil Commitment Post-Kingsley, 113 Nw. U. L. Rev. 155 (2018). The abs …

Beyond Strict Scrutiny: Forbidden Purpose and the “Civil Commitment” Power

Sex offender civil commitment (SOCC) is a massive deprivation of liberty as severe as penal incarceration. Because it eschews most of the “great safeguards” constraining the criminal power, SOCC demands careful constitutional scrutiny. Although the Supreme Court has clearly applied heightened scrutiny in judging civil commitment schemes, it has never actually specified where on the scrutiny spectrum its analysis falls. This article argues that standard three-tier scrutiny analysis is not the most coherent way to understand the Supreme Court’s civil commitment jurisprudence. Rather than a harm-balancing judgment typical of three-tier scrutiny, the Court’s civil commitment cases are best understood as forbidden purpose cases, a construct that is familiar in many areas of the Court’s constitutional analysis…

Civil Commitment News

COVID-19: Strategies for Reducing Transmission

In response to the current COVID-19 Pandemic, the Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center has published a set of guidelines for law enforcement, policy experts, and others with respect to law and policy focused on those with past convictions …

Posted: March 28, 2020

Reason — After He Found California’s Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders Wasn’t Working, the State Shut Him Down and Destroyed His Research

By Steven Yoder | From the April 2020 Issue In late 2006, a public defender went before a Napa County judge to argue for his client’s freedom. Rex McCurdy, a 49-year-old man, had been detained for seven years at Atascadero State Hospital under a 1995 C …

Posted: March 6, 2020

Reason — Sex Offender Laws Are Broken. These Women Are Working to Fix Them.

By Hallie Lieberman | Feb. 2020 Sandy Rozek is the polar opposite of what comes to mind when you hear the word activist. A 78-year-old great-grandmother and retired high school English teacher who lives in Houston, Rozek is not woke, doesn’t post on Tw …

Posted: January 25, 2020

Topics

Jurisdiction

10th Cir. 11th Cir. 1st Cir. 2nd Cir. 3rd Cir. 4th Cir. 5th Cir. 6th Cir. 7th Cir. 8th Cir. 9th Cir. 9th Circuit Alabama Alaska Arizona California Colorado Connecticut D.C. Cir. Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Neb. Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas United States Supreme Court Utah Vermont Virginia Vt. Washington Wisconsin

Constitutional Issues

10th Amendment 14th Amendment 1st Amendment 4th Amendment 5th Amendment 6th Amendment 8th Amendment Assistance of Counsel Bail Bill of Attainder Compelled Speech Double Jeopardy Due Process Equal Protection Ex Post Facto Foreign Commerce Clause Fourteenth Amendment Freedom of Association Full Faith and Credit Habeas Corpus Necessary and Proper Nondelegation Overbreadth Privileges and Immunities Procedural Due Process Right to Jury Trial Right to Parent Right to Travel Ripeness Speedy Trial Standing Substantive Due Process Takings Clause Treaty power Void-for-Vagueness

Substantive Issues

Actual Innocence Administrative exhaustion Administrative Procedures Act AEDPA Antisocial Personality Disorder Apprendi / Alleyne As-Applied AWA Burden of Proof Churches Civil Commitment Collateral Estoppel Conditions of Confinement Conditions of Release Daubert Deregistration Evidentiary Standards Expungement Extraterritorial Registration Failure to Register Familial Relationships GPS Halloween Hearsay Heck bar Homelessness Housing HUD Immigration Ineffective Assistance International Travel Internet Identifiers Internet Restrictions Jury Instructions Juvenile Registration Mental disorder Non-Sexual Offense Notification Out-of-state Offense Paraphilia Diagnosis Pardon Parole Personality Disorder Plea Agreement Plethysmograph PLRA Polygraphs Preemption Presence Restrictions Procedural Default PROTECT Act Punishment Qualified Immunity Recidivism Reclassification Res Judicata Residential Banishment Retroactive Application (Non-EPF) Revocation of Supervision Risk School Property Second / Subsequent Offense Sentencing Sexual Predator designation Sign Posting Special Needs Supervised Release SVP Tiering / Classification Tolling Transitional Release Travel Travel Restrictions Treatment Programs Voting Rights






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