[Vision2020] Kevin Coe commitment

[Andreas Schou]

>
> I'm torn, frankly.  Kevin Coe seems to be the worst kind of predator and a
> danger to the community.  Still, he served his 25-year sentence, and I'm
> concerned about the idea of "civil commitment" and its application in other
> situations.  The civil libertarian in me says that he's served his crime and
> ought not be incarcerated for what he might do, no matter how likely it is
> that he will commit another attack.  The public-safety concerns about
> unrepentant, untreated, defiant rapists out on the street, though, give me a
> measure of comfort in his commitment, even though it seems not to represent
> the very best of American jurisprudence.
>

So long as the confinement is:

(1) Based on the independent medical judgment of professionals not fully
beholden to the state, and;
(2) Not punitive confinement, which is to say: designed for treatment and
harm reduction, rather than to discourage future negative conduct, and;
(3) Has provisions for periodic reassessment of the incarcerated person's
rehabilitation,

I'm perfectly willing to support civil commitment. However, there's good
evidence that the civil commitment process is just a way to sneak life
sentences for rape in through the back door with a lower standard of
evidence -- and to effectively extend sentences that have already been
handed down. I'd be far more willing to support this sort of thing if life
sentences for rape were more common.

-- ACS
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