Editorials
Tuesday, June 24, 1997SIX states have devised civil procedures to lengthen confinement of inmates regarded as sexual predators beyond their prescribed prison terms. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding a Kansas law, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, could allow states to deny treatment of mentally disturbed prisoners and keep them behind bars because of that very lack of treatment. The ruling is an invitation for states to throw away the key in a wide variety of cases. Sexual predator ruling
could invite abusesThe Supreme Court case involved a Kansas inmate who had been convicted five times of child molestation and who acknowledged his inability to control his pedophile instincts when under stress. Determined by the court to suffer from a "mentally abnormality or personality disorder" -- not insanity -- he fell prey to a Kansas law allowing his further incarceration for an indefinite period as a protection to society.
The attempt to differentiate between insanity and mental abnormality is a ruse. Judges and juries have developed such a dislike for the insanity defense that criminal defense attorneys rarely employ it. Public opinion demands that the offender be punished rather than treated for an illness. In the few cases where the insanity defense is accepted, the offender ends up spending much more time in confinement in a mental hospital than he would spend in prison if found sane and given a normal sentence.
The Kansas law -- similar laws are in force in Arizona, California, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin -- allows judges and juries to shun the unpopular insanity defense and embrace the prospect of indefinite incarceration because of the offender's mental illness. The result is punishment at its most severe with no assurance of treatment and rehabilitation.
The laws in Kansas and the other five states are limited to sexual offenders, but the high court's decision may prompt legislators to enact laws extending it to "mentally abnormal" perpetrators of other acts. Defense attorneys may be leery about even bringing up their clients' mental illness for fear of later reprisals, which could ultimately increase the threat to public safety.
THE Internet has been touted, correctly, as a revolutionary medium for the dissemination of information. Although much of the results are beneficial, some are extremely dangerous. Concern already has been focused on the availability of pornographic material on the Internet and the danger this poses to children. There is perhaps an equal or greater danger from information about drugs. Drugs on Internet
With millions of children surfing the 'Net and exposing themselves to such dangerous material, it's clear that society has to find a way to cope with this threat. How to cope without violating the Constitution isn't clear.
WITH wry humor, American prisoners of war in Vietnam called it the Hanoi Hilton. Actually it was a squalid prison where some POWs were held for as long as six years and where some of them endured repeated torture. Officially it was the Hoa Lo prison, and now the Hanoi government has decided to designate it a national historic monument. The Hanoi Hilton
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
