Chapter 12

Question 1

What is civil commitment?

Answer 1

post-sentence institutional detention of an offender with the intention of preventing further offenses.

Question 2

What are the SVP

Answer 2

In order to be categorized as a SVP, a sex offender must:
Have been convicted of or charged with a sexually violent crime
Suffer from a mental abnormality of personality disorder (includes paraphilias, personality disorders, psychopathy, etc.) (p278)
Be likely to reoffend as a result of the mental or personality disorder if not confined to a secure facility

Question 3

1. Be familiar with the SVP legislation in this country

Answer 3

Sexually violent predator (SVP) are the sex offenders who are determined by some states as more likely to reoffend; the assumption is that there is a relationship between mental disorder, risk and sexual violence

Question 4

1. What is Colorado definition of SVP?

Answer 4

The offender must have been convicted on or after July 1, 1999 of one of the following offenses committed on or after July 1, 1997. Attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit one of the following crimes are also considered to be qualifying offenses. Conviction is defined to include verdicts of guilty, pleas of guilty, or having received a deferred judgment and sentence
Also in Colorado, juvenile sex offenders cannot be labeled as SVPs unless they have been charged as adult, convicted as a sex offender, and screened as well as accepted into the program for SVPs. But this is a very rare case [according to SOMB]

Question 5

Civil commitment laws and AWA

Answer 5

The AWA mandates civil commitment of dangerous sex offenders.

States also need to pass civil commitment laws specifically for dangerous sex offenders in compliance with the AWA

AWA also authorized the federal government to institute a civil commitment program for federal sex offenders

Question 6

1. Issues surrounding civil commitment of juvenile sex offenders

Answer 6

recidivism rates are low
can impact the outcome of juvenile offenders
placing youth with predatory adults is problematic

Question 7

1. What are some legal challenges of civil commitment legislation?

Answer 7

?

Question 8

1. Is civil commitment proven to be effective?

Answer 8

no