Read and Comment: 25 Years After Court Ruling, Released Sex Offenders Endure ‘Shadow Prisons’
On June 23 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Kansas v. Hendricks, upheld the practice of detaining people convicted of sexual offenses beyond prison sentences under the guise of treatment. The landmark 5-4 ruling also concluded that the Kansas law governing the practice did not constitute double jeopardy since it merely authorized “civil” rather than “criminal” commitments. Taken together with Kansas v.
Read more