I worry a bit about both decisions. I am shocked the left is not outraged. Among the mentally ill offenders you might continue in civil commitment are:
1. homosexuals as homosexuality until quite recently was viewed as a mental disease.
2. sexually active unmarried women who until recently were at times viewed as mentally ill.
3. fundamentalist female genital mutilators all of whom could be viewed mentally ill and certainly likely to offend if they have other female children.
4. and if the left has their way Christains who according to some on the left suffer from a mental illness.
“I worry a bit about both decisions.”
So do I, but I think that Kansas v Hendricks causes me more disquiet.
If the sexual offenses were committed due to a mental illness than were the original criminal convictions mistaken? Perhaps the defendants should have been found not guilty due to insanity.
I’d feel better about a 5 years to life sentence for these offenses that wouldn’t require government to use civil commitment to control a problem of criminal behavior.