The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the state’s program that allows for the indefinite detention of sex offenders. The 6-0 decision, in separate cases involving two men, is reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A public defender for the men had argued their commitments were punitive, meant lifetime confinement and amounted to second punishments after they already served time in prison. The attorney, Chelsea Mitchell, said that meant her clients’ rights to due process, equal protection and a fair trial were violated.
But judges wrote that “this entire collection of arguments has been rejected in the past,” and reaffirmed the law.
A federal judge ruled in 2015 that the way the state applied the law was not constitutional.
Read the full story here.
The sad thing is the men in this case had a public defender. Not much better that having no defender. It's criminal in itself for the judges to allow indefinite detention. Murderes can get away with less.