"You have paid your debt to society as outlined by our laws, you are free men...

[Chavez]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/17/supre...initely/?hpt=T2

 

The Supreme Court ruled Monday the federal government has the power to indefinitely keep some sex offenders behind bars after they have served their sentences, if officials determine those inmates may prove "sexually dangerous" in the future.

 

"The federal government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the 7-2 majority.

 

Nobody likes sex offenders, yadda yadda yadda, but I find this decision troubling.

[alexgaddis]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/17/supre...initely/?hpt=T2

 

 

 

Nobody likes sex offenders, yadda yadda yadda, but I find this decision troubling.

I don't

 

ps - tell you what, find me a former sex offender that has become valuable to society and I will buy you a happy meal

Edited May 18, 2010 by alexgaddis

[Chavez]

I don't

 

ps - tell you what, find me a former sex offender that has become valuable to society and I will buy you a happy meal

The two dissenters were Thomas and Scalia; here's what Thomas wrote in the dissent:

 

To be sure, protecting society from violent sexual of-fenders is certainly an important end. Sexual abuse is a despicable act with untold consequences for the victim personally and society generally. But the Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it.

 

Not to mention that it appears that a "sentence" is now not really indicative of anything - "you've been convicted of a sexual offense; we sentence you to 5 yrs but hey, maybe we'll just hold you forever."

[kpholmes]

I don't

 

ps - tell you what, find me a former sex offender that has become valuable to society and I will buy you a happy meal

In California you are forever listed as a sex offender for public urination, so I'm sure some of them have gone on to be good citizens.

[Chavez]

In California you are forever listed as a sex offender for public urination, so I'm sure some of them have gone on to be good citizens.

Statutory rape = sex offense

[SheikYerbuti]

ps - tell you what, find me a former sex offender that has become valuable to society and I will buy you a happy meal

 

If the Steelers post a winning record this year, do I get the happy meal?

[westvirginia]

Just one more step down the "they own you" trail...

[dmarc117]

The two dissenters were Thomas and Scalia; here's what Thomas wrote in the dissent:

 

 

 

Not to mention that it appears that a "sentence" is now not really indicative of anything - "you've been convicted of a sexual offense; we sentence you to 5 yrs but hey, maybe we'll just hold you forever."

 

 

very easy solution......

 

DONT COMMIT A SEXUAL CRIME

[AtomicCEO]

Wouldn't a simpler fix be to impose tougher sentences, rather than granting prisons the right to hold people indefinitely?

[detlef]

Wouldn't a simpler fix be to impose tougher sentences, rather than granting prisons the right to hold people indefinitely?

That's so crazy it might work.

[The Holy Roller]

In California you are forever listed as a sex offender for public urination, so I'm sure some of them have gone on to be good citizens.

 

I am a sex offender. I have urinated outside many times. Sometimes my brothers and I would pee on an electric fence. Just because.

[Savage Beatings]

Yeah, I'm torn on this, but have to admit that I think it is a bad decision. I pretty much want sex offenders to be castrated and incarcerated for a very long time (and if they happen to meet with a fatal accident while in prison, then so be it)... but it's the job of the Judge to get that sentence right the first time around. That's where the problem lies, and that's where the problem needs to be addressed... not by giving authorities the power to issue unlimited extensions of an inadequate sentence.

[detlef]

Yeah, I'm torn on this, but have to admit that I think it is a bad decision. I pretty much want sex offenders to be castrated and incarcerated for a very long time (and if they happen to meet with a fatal accident while in prison, then so be it)... but it's the job of the Judge to get that sentence right the first time around. That's where the problem lies, and that's where the problem needs to be addressed... not by giving authorities the power to issue unlimited extensions of an inadequate sentence.

Well said. I doubt any of us who don't like the decision feel that way because we don't want to be too tough on sex offenders, it's just an effed up precedent. I mean, why stop with sex offenders? Is that the single worst thing someone can do? What about killing someone? And, if being a sex offender is so bad that it's the one instance where we should allow prisons to hold them past their sentence, why not just make the sentences for sex offenses more extreme than anything else?

 

Obviously the thought process is that one may not be sure which sex offenders may be "fixed" during their sentence and which ones will not. However, that's what freaking parole is for. Give them all really long sentences and let the guys who you're very certain are good to go out earlier. Done and done.

[matt770]

The sentences for sex offenders have been way out of whack forever. You can get more time for getting caught with a kilo of coke in your trunk than for raping someone. I've always felt that rapists, especially child rapists, should get life without parole. I have read that pedophiles are rarely "cured" with therapy, and I would expect the "cure" rate after a stint in prison is close to 0%. Maybe 1 person in a million who has molested a child can safely be put back into society.

[i_am_the_swammi]

Obviously the thought process is that one may not be sure which sex offenders may be "fixed" during their sentence and which ones will not. However, that's what freaking parole is for. Give them all really long sentences and let the guys who you're very certain are good to go out earlier. Done and done.

 

yep

[bpwallace49]

If the Steelers post a winning record this year, do I get the happy meal?