Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Persons

Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Persons PDF Author: Nathan James
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781604565058
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
The 109th Congress passed legislation that allows the federal government to civilly commit "sexually dangerous persons". Civil commitment, as it relates to sex offenders, is when a state retains custody of an individual, found by a judge or jury to be a "sexually dangerous person" by involuntarily committing the person to a secure mental health facility after the offender's prison sentence is done. In 1990, the state of Washington passed the first civil commitment law for sexually dangerous persons. Currently, 18 other states and the federal government have similar laws. Moreover, the Supreme Court, in Kansas v. Hendricks and Kansas v. Crane, ruled that current civil commitment laws are constitutional. The civil commitment of sex offenders centres on the belief that sex offenders are more likely than other offenders to re-offend. However, data on sex offender recidivism is varied. Data show that the recidivism risk for sex offenders may be lower than it is typically thought to be; in fact, some studies show that sex offenders recidivate at a lower rate than many other criminals. Other studies show that, given time, almost all sex offenders will commit a new sex crime. Most discussions about recidivism examine ways to decrease it; for example, by providing sex offenders with treatment. Research on the efficacy of sex offender treatment is promising, but it cannot prove that treatment reduces recidivism.

Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Persons

Civil Commitment of Sexually Dangerous Persons PDF Author: Nathan James
Publisher: Nova Publishers
ISBN: 9781604565058
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Get Book

Book Description
The 109th Congress passed legislation that allows the federal government to civilly commit "sexually dangerous persons". Civil commitment, as it relates to sex offenders, is when a state retains custody of an individual, found by a judge or jury to be a "sexually dangerous person" by involuntarily committing the person to a secure mental health facility after the offender's prison sentence is done. In 1990, the state of Washington passed the first civil commitment law for sexually dangerous persons. Currently, 18 other states and the federal government have similar laws. Moreover, the Supreme Court, in Kansas v. Hendricks and Kansas v. Crane, ruled that current civil commitment laws are constitutional. The civil commitment of sex offenders centres on the belief that sex offenders are more likely than other offenders to re-offend. However, data on sex offender recidivism is varied. Data show that the recidivism risk for sex offenders may be lower than it is typically thought to be; in fact, some studies show that sex offenders recidivate at a lower rate than many other criminals. Other studies show that, given time, almost all sex offenders will commit a new sex crime. Most discussions about recidivism examine ways to decrease it; for example, by providing sex offenders with treatment. Research on the efficacy of sex offender treatment is promising, but it cannot prove that treatment reduces recidivism.

Protecting Society from Sexually Dangerous Offenders

Protecting Society from Sexually Dangerous Offenders PDF Author: John Q. La Fond
Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn
ISBN: 9781557989734
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
In Protecting Society From Sexually Dangerous Offenders, legal and mental health experts explore the ramifications of the controversial sexual predator commitment laws, registration and community notification laws, and chemical castration laws that have come into existence in the past dozen years. The increasing number of sex crimes, especially those committed by released sex offenders against young victims, has struck a public nerve. Understandably, citizens are angry, vengeful, and fearful, and they demand both retribution and harsh measures to prevent these kinds of crimes from recurring. These intense public demands for retaliation and protection have shaped recent law and public policy, resulting in involuntary commitment programs, notification laws, and chemical castration laws for sex offenders in many states. These new legal strategies raise serious constitutional questions regarding the rights of those who have served their punishment. Perhaps more important is the question of whether these programs are actually effective in preventing sexual recidivism. In this volume, contributing authors discuss the issues surrounding these new legal strategies and the alternatives to such programs. They examine the wisdom and constitutionality of post-incarceration commitment and the difficulty of determining who is most likely to offend again. Contributors propose alternatives to involuntary commitment, including community containment and programs for treating sexually abused children so as to reduce the chances of them growing up to continue the cycle of sexual abuse. They also propose ways in which these new legal approaches can be applied to increase their therapeutic potential. Psychologists and other mental health experts working with sexually dangerous offenders as well as lawyers, policy makers, and students in these fields will find this to be an indispensable sourcebook on this topic.

Sexual Predators

Sexual Predators PDF Author: Robert A. Prentky
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136016643
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
Convicted sex offenders released from custody at the end of their criminal sentences pose a risk for re-offense. In many US states, Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) laws have been enacted that allow for the post-prison preventive detention of high risk sex offenders. SVP laws require the courts to make dispositions that protect the public from harm while at the same time respecting the civil rights of the offender. This book describes these SVP laws, their constitutionality, and aspects of their operation. Courts hear expert risk testimony based heavily on the results of actuarial risk assessment. Problems associated with this testimony include the lack of a theory of recidivism risk, bias due to human decision-making, and the insularity of scholarship and practice along developmental lines. The authors propose changes in legal standards, as well as a unified developmental model that treats sexual violence as an "evolving" condition, with roots traceable to childhood and paths that extend into adolescence and adulthood.

Dangerous Sex Offenders

Dangerous Sex Offenders PDF Author:
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 9780890422809
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This is a task force report on dangerous sex offenders.

"Sexual Predator" Law

Author: Don Salm
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Involuntary treatment
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description


The Sexual Predator

The Sexual Predator PDF Author: Anita M. Schlank
Publisher: Civic Research Institute, Inc.
ISBN: 1887554092
Category : Child molesters
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Treats the law, policy, evaluation, and treatment of sex offenders, including a discussion of the civil commitment of sexual predators under Minnesota's law, the role of assessment in the commitment process, a clinical view of civil commitment, and an overview of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

Evaluating Sex Offenders

Evaluating Sex Offenders PDF Author: Dennis M. Doren
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761921141
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
A professional volume to help practitioners, clinicians, counselors, and parole officers, assess risk and evaluate offenders who have been convicted of a sex crime. This is the most comprehensive volume available on every aspect of assessing risk. It compares all current risk assessment techniques of sex offenders in terms of ease of use, reliability, and predictive power. It is a complete guide to assessing sex offenders for likelihood of re-offense, and it provides a wealth of information on other aspects of the assessment process, including information gathering, interviewing offenders, and writing reports. Chapter topics include: defining risk; data gathering; diagnostic issues; recidivism base rates; risk factor lists; actuarial scales; instrumentation (violent and sexual); the evaluation report; presenting in court; ethical issues.

Failure to Protect

Failure to Protect PDF Author: Eric S. Janus
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501731165
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Most crimes of sexual violence are committed by people known to the victim—acquaintances and family members. Yet politicians and the media overemphasize predatory strangers when legislating against and reporting on sexual violence. In this book, Eric S. Janus goes far beyond sensational headlines to expose the reality of the laws designed to prevent sexual crimes. He shows that "sexual predator" laws, which have intense public and political support, are counterproductive.Janus contends that aggressive measures such as civil commitment and Megan's law, which are designed to restrain sex offenders before they can commit another crime, are bad policy and do little to actually reduce sexual violence. Further, these new laws make use of approaches such as preventive detention and actuarial profiling that violate important principles of liberty.Janus argues that to prevent sexual violence, policymakers must address the deep-seated societal problems that allow it to flourish. In addition to criminal sanctions, he endorses the specific efforts of some advocates, organizations, and social scientists to stop sexual violence by, for example, taking steps to change the attitudes and behaviors of school-age children and adolescents, improving public education, and promoting community treatment and supervision of previous offenders.Janus also warns that the principles underlying the predator laws may be the early harbingers of a "preventive state" in which the government casts wide nets of surveillance and intervenes to curtail liberty before crimes of any type occur. More than a critique of the status quo, this book discusses serious alternatives and how best to overcome the political obstacles to achieving rational policy.

Violent Offenders

Violent Offenders PDF Author: Delisi
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 1284129012
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
Violent Offenders: Theory, Research, Policy and Practice contains cutting-edge scholarship on the broad category of criminal predators, including homicide offenders, sex offenders, financial predators, and conventional street criminals.

Civil Commitment of Special Categories of Offenders

Civil Commitment of Special Categories of Offenders PDF Author: William L. Hickey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antisocial personality disorders
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description