CIVIL COMMITMENT AND SEXUAL PREDATORS: Competence and Condemnation

A satisfactory account of commitment under sexual predator statutes would provide a consistent explanation of the relationships among commitment under the sexual predator statutes, criminal incarceration, and the general institution of civil commitment. This article proposes a revised institution of civil commitment for those who manifest psychological impairment that constitutes a necessary component in a set of circumstances that justifies a form of coercive state intervention uniquely appropriate to those who suffer such impairment. It explains the manner in which psychological impairment can justify coercive state intervention under the parens patriae or police powers. This interpretation of civil commitment corrects the fundamental error of the sexual predator statutes and provides for institutions of civil commitment consistent with the broader set of legal institutions within which they are embedded.