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Justices do right by states, sex crime victims Sex offenders may well have lost more than they gained in a Supreme Court decision that an attorney for one of them applauded this week. High court justices in effect upheld state laws intended to protect society from perverts. John Donham, attorney for Kansas sex offender Michael Crane, had argued to justices that state laws keeping such criminals imprisoned up even after they have served their sentences should not be allowed. Once the time is served, states have no right to keep sex offenders locked up, Donham argued. But Kansas and several other states have taken the position that some sex offenders are so sick that they pose a very real threat to society and should be kept incarcerated to safeguard other people. Donham claimed to have won a victory when justices ruled that he has a point. The trouble for Donham and his client is that justices said the point is a very, very small one. The court ruled that sex offenders indeed can be kept incarcerated after they have served their sentences, if states can prove the criminals suffer from mental illness that makes it difficult for them to control their actions. It is important to note that the court did not require states to show sex offenders are completely lacking in self-control. "It is enough to say that there must be proof of serious difficulty in controlling behavior," wrote Justice Stephen Breyer. In the case of some sex criminals, particularly repeat offenders, that can be demonstrated virtually by definition. Supreme Court justices acted wisely in their ruling on the Kansas case &emdash; upholding the right of society to be protected against sexual predators. |
