Civil Committment of Sexual Offenders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Civil Committment of Sexual Offenders - endeavor ExampleMinnesota allows for civilised commitment of enkindle wrongdoers who have completed their jail terms, a supply that has been made in the Minnesota Commitment Act. The act reasons that civil commitment of fire offenders is a needed measure to prevent dangerous windual offences from occurring in the future (Barnickol, 2001). In atomic number 20, civil commitment fro sex offenders is allowed under the Sexually Violent Predator Law. The provisions of the commitment law for sex offenders in California are the same as in Kansas and Minnesota. Other States that have adopted civil commitment laws for sex offenders who are deemed dangerous include Washington, Missouri, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Iowa (McCaffrey, 1994). One of the similarities that stand out in many of the sex offenders civil commitment laws in different conjures is the requirement that a criminal is likely to pose informal offense danger to other people after he is released at the end of his jail term. The laws adjudicate to have violent sex predators who have some form of mental ab saneity to be act to involuntarily and indefinitely to appropriate facilities for treatment. The laws also require that such offenders must have completed their jail sentences. Although all the civil commitment laws in states that have adopted are largely similar, there are a few differences that exist. For instance, in the Texas legislation of civil commitment, a criminal is liable to commitment if he is ground to have behavioral abnormality. This is different from the mental abnormality mentioned in other similar legislations (Prentky, Janus, and Barbaree, 2006). diametrical states have also taken different approaches in the management of civilly committed familiar offender populations. Florida for example, requires the offenders to be committed to be assessed by a qualified team so as to picture if they are sexually violent predators. Th e evaluation process is a civil proceeding after which those offenders found to meet the criteria are kept under watch at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in concert with other detainees who are still awaiting similar civil trials (McCaffrey, 1994). In Washington, evaluation of an offenders state of mind is done by a Joint Forensic Unit whose members are forensic experts who betray specifically with risk evaluations related to sex offence. If the offender is fond to meet all the legal requirements for civil commitment, the King County Prosecutors Office or the Attorney Generals office thus files a petition and a hearing is scheduled within 72 hours. If the superior court finds the offender to be a suitable candidate for a civil commitment trial, he is taken to the DSHS surplus Commitment Center located on McNeil Island. During the trial, the jury or judge must determine without distrust that the offender is a sexually violent predator before he is transferred to a Secure fam iliarity Transition Facility (LaFond and Winick, 2003). Similar civil or court hearings are scheduled for each offender who is regarded to have mental abnormality which makes him a danger to others in all the states where civil commitment for sexual predators has been legalized. After they are committed in specialized facilities, the sexual predators receive special treatment for a specified period to make them better members of society after which they are released to carry on with normal life. Costs vs. Benefits of Civil Commitment One of the benefits of civil