LAW

The Civil Commitment of Sexual Offenders



The Civil Commitment of Sexual Offenders

Introduction

The public understandably fears sexual offenses. The offenders who commit sexual crimes are equally feared. As a response to the fear that some offenders may continue to create victims when they are released into society, laws have been implemented in many states enabling the government to continue to confine offenders after their prison sentences have been served. The legal mechanism currently popular among legislators is civil commitment,. Which typically involves mental health hospitalization in facilities with security virtually equivalent to most prisons, which is also known as, sexually violent predator laws, offenders who have been deemed sexually violent predators are incapacitated. These sentencing schemes keep offenders confined until it is determined, officially, that the threat they pose to the community has diminished. Sex offender civil commitment schemes warrant special attention because offenders are, in effect, incapacitated for an indeterminate amount of time. In theory, these laws are necessary to protect the public from harm that may be caused by particularly dangerous offenders; however, when individual freedom is so greatly restricted, a thorough accounting of the decision making process is warranted

By design, sex offender civil commitment laws function to confine those who due to a mental abnormality engage in acts that are predatory in terms of sexual violence in the future (Kansas v. Hendricks, 1997). In order to be eligible for commitment under sex offender civil commitment laws, the offender must

Individuals who have a history of sexually harmful conduct,

Individuals who have mental abnormality

Mental abnormality predisposes them to commit future acts of sexually harmful conduct (Jackson and Richards, 2007; Kansas v. Hendricks,1997).

Dennis Doren is a psychologist who is the evaluation director at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Wisconsin. He has evaluated and treated sex offenders for eighteen years with the past fourteen years having been dedicated to evaluating sex offenders for civil commitment hearings and serving as an expert witness for such hearings. Dr. Doren serves as a trainer and consultant for clinicians and attorneys in the area of sex offender civil commitment. He has done extensive research on civil commitment processes and his presentations are used nationally and internationally to assist in preparation for civil commitment hearings. Doren (2002) describes in detail the typical stages of the sex offender civil commitment process, although these procedures vary somewhat by state. First, there is a pre-referral assessment stage in which cases are reviewed to determine who should be referred to prosecutors. In Illinois, for example, the agency that has jurisdiction over the offender (be that the corrections institution or forensic institution) notifies the Attorney General of the reasons why the offender should be considered sexually violent. The prosecutors then schedule a hearing to determine if probable cause exists for civil commitment proceedings. If probable cause is found, the case enters into the post-probable cause, pre-commitment assessments phase. In this stage, both the state and the respondent are entitled to hire an evaluator who conducts assessment and ...