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updates

Missouri’s SVP Law: Time for a change?

Sam Newman, “Missouri’s SVP Law: Time for a change?”, 60 St. Louis U. L. J. 711 (Summer 2016) Text excerpts: Newman, 721: In Kansas v. Hendricks…. the Court added that the mental condition must cause the individual to have difficulty controlling his or her behavior As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Hendricks, the clinical condition actually causing a loss of ‘volitional impairment’ is essential to SVP statutes”. Newman, 722 : …[A]ccurately determin[ing] when… a ‘mental abnormality’ is actually causing volitional impairment… is such a difficult task that the American Bar Association (ABA) considers it nearly impossible.  In…

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Sexual Deviance over the Lifespan: Reductions in Deviant Sexual Behavior in the Aging Sex Offender

Howard E. Barbaree & Tay Blanchard, “Sexual Deviance over the Lifespan: Reductions in Deviant Sexual Behavior in the Aging Sex Offender,”  Barbara & Blanchard, 37….[A]lthough some individual traits and predispositions underlying sexual deviance, such as sexual preferences or antisocial traits, may persist to the end of life, the expression or performance of sexually deviant behavior decreases with age.”  Barabee & Blanchard, 39: “The Role of the Male Sex Hormone Testosterone” “Mammalian gonads and adrenals secrete several male sex hormones called ‘androgens’.  All are steroid hormones produced primarily in the Leydig cells in the male testes, although some small amounts of…

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Constitutional Law and the Role of Scientific Evidence: The Transformative Potential of Doe v. Snyder

Melissa Hamilton, “Constitutional Law and the Role of Scientific Evidence: The Transformative Potential of Doe v. Snyder”, 58 Boston College Law Rev. E-Supplement 34 (2017) Text Excerpts: Hamilton, 35 …[T]he Sixth Circuit expressly recognizes scientific studies showing that sex offenders as a group do not pose a significant risk of recidivism risk. ….Snyder makes a contemporary case for the relevance in constitutional decision-making of data gathered from interdisciplinary scientific fields, particularly where such data conflict with legislative assumptions” Hamilton, 36  …A foundational principle underlying these policies is the assumption that sex offenders pose a uniquely high risk of recidivism.  In…

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The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment

The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment By Guy Hamilton-Smith “Prosecutors can subject those convicted of sexual offense – and sometimes, those with no conviction at all – to an indefinite period of civil punishment at the end of their criminal sentence. In January, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Bianco ruled that after spending nearly two decades detained by the state of California without trial, George Vasquez was a free man. Unlike the 536,000 people held pretrial in the criminal justice system in America, Vasquez, 44, was not being held because he was accused of a crime. Instead, Vasquez…

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How Just Future Plans to Create Change

How We Plan to Create Change We are committed to creating lasting change.  Read on for a crash course in how Just Future plans to create change and make a difference.  If there were an Official Underground Handbook for Just Future Project, this would be the “Introduction.” BACKGROUND Indefinite detention laws may seem entrenched and unmovable, but in reality they remain a relatively new area of law that continues to be deeply controversial and vulnerable to attack.  The American Psychiatric Association has categorically opposed so-called “sex offender civil commitment” programs since 1999, calling them a “misuse of psychiatry” and a…

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