NCJ Number
206833
Journal
The Prison Journal Volume: 84 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 379-394
Editor(s)
Rosemary L. Gido
Date Published
September 2004
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article analyzes the impact of the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court case of Kansas v. Crane based on sexually violent predator (SVP) legislation allowing for the indefinite civil commitment of sex offenders who have completed their prison sentence but have been identified as SVP's.
Abstract
It is a known fact that society finds violent and sexual offenses intolerable and when such offenses occur many times, it only serves to amplify society’s disdain for the acts and their perpetrators. This social intolerance has led to numerous methods of addressing such issues. Several States over the last 10 years have implemented what many consider to be the resurrection of the old sexual psychopath laws as sexually violent predator (SVP) legislation. SVP legislation allows for the indefinite civil commitment of those offenders who have served their prison sentences but have been determined to still be SVP's. In 1994, the Kansas Legislature enacted the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act (KSVPA) which set forth procedures for the civil commitment of individuals who have been diagnosed as suffering from mental abnormalities or personality disorders that make the individual likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence. This article analyzes the KSVPA and, more specifically the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court Kansas v. Crane (2002) case with regard to civil commitment statutes for sexual predators in general. The analysis examines the latest in a series of cases that address an issue that many feel runs dangerously close to crossing the fine line between civil commitment and criminal sanctions. References