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Through the Civil Commitment Looking Glass
Loaded on Aug. 15, 1998
by Tamara Menteer
published in Prison Legal News
August, 1998, page 1
If the object or purpose of the Kansas [civil commitment] law had been to provide treatment but treatment were adopted as a sham or mere pretext, there would have been an indication of the forbidden purpose to punish . -- Justice Kennedy's concurring majority opinion in Hendricks v. Kansas , …
Filed under:
Sex Offenders (Discrimination),
Mental Health,
Sex Offender Treatment,
Civil Commitment.
Location:
Washington.
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More from this issue:
- Through the Civil Commitment Looking Glass, by Tamara Menteer
- A Zoo Within a Prison
- CCA Sells Self; Wackenhut Creates REIT
- From the Editor, by Dan Pens
- NJ Prisoners Refuse to Swallow PINs
- Idaho Law Libraries Closed, Pillaged, by M.M.
- STGMU-tized in New Jersey, by T.R.
- Notes from the Unrepenitentiary, by Laura Whitehorn
- MCI Refund to Florida Prisoner Families
- Los Angeles Jail Death Ruled Homicide
- The Tough-On-Crime Myth: Real Solutions to Cut Crime, by Daniel Burton-Rose
- The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission (Book Review), by Daniel Burton-Rose
- The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class and Criminal Justice, by Daniel Burton-Rose
- Union County, NJ, Jail Guards Convicted
- PLRA Finding Required for Injunctive Relief
- Plaintiffs Must Be Allowed to Present Evidence in PLRA Motions to Terminate Prospective Relief
- TDCJ PLRA Forms Okay
- CA Tort Claim Not Required for Administrative Exhaustion
- Consent Decree Termination Upheld
- Dismissal for Lying About Poverty Affirmed
- PLRA Filing fees Don't Apply to Civil Commitments
- PLRA Fees Don't Apply to Mandamus
- $22,500 to Seattle WA Jail Brutality Suit
- Proof of Administrative Exhaustion Required
- Mock Prison Riot Staged
- Racism in the Ranks, by Willie Wisely
- WA Prison Telemarketing Elicits Controversy - Again, by Paul Wright
- CBCC Warden Fired in Telemarketing Hoopla
- Bureau of Prisons Estopped from Denying Sentence Reduction
- Sentence Runs During Wrongful Release
- U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies § 1983 Claims, by David C Fathi
- Jericho: Thoughts From Political Prisoners in Leavenworth, by Jaan Laaman
- Jericho '98 March and Rally
- Convict Mine Labor in the Information Age, by Dan Pens
- Cheaper to Exile Prisoners?, by Dan Pens
- Prisons Promoting Tourism, by Alex Friedmann
- Jailers Charged in Bribery, Kickback Schemes
- WI Predator-Law Poster Boy Gets Released
- WI Guard Settles Discrimination Suit for $105,000
- News in Brief
- Mailbox Rule Applied to Habeas Petitions
- WA DOC Investigators Can't Detain Visitors: Drugs Suppressed
- Oregon Guard Pleads Guilty to Perjury
- Risk of Serious Harm States Claim
- Disciplinary Hearing Violations Enjoined
- Probable Cause Required for Visitor Body Cavity Search
More from Tamara Menteer:
- Washington Civil Commitment Held in Contempt, May 15, 2000
- Through the Civil Commitment Looking Glass, Aug. 15, 1998
More from these topics:
- Minnesota Study Shows Disproportionate Rate of Health and Mental Problems for Recently Incarcerated, March 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Medical, Statistics/Trends, Mental Health, Health care.
- Shadow Prisons: How Civil Commitment Leads to Longer Confinement, Jan. 1, 2026. Sex Offender Treatment, Involuntary Treatment/Drugging, Civil Commitment, Sexually Dangerous Persons/Sexual Violent Predators, Sex Offense Registration Act (SORNA).
- 2025 Was a Deadly Year for Veterans Behind Bars, Jan. 1, 2026. Brain Injury, Death Penalty, Mental Health, Veterans, Mental Health Experts.
- Wisconsin DOC Releases 1,700 Private Health Records by Mistake, Dec. 1, 2025. DOC/BOP misconduct, Medical Records, Mental Health, Visiting, Public Records Act.
- Fifth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Suit by Civilly Committed Texan, Dec. 1, 2025. Sex Offenders (Discrimination), Conditions of Confinement, Complaints, Grievances, Civil Commitment.
- Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025. Civil Commitment, Exclusionary Rule, Pat Down Searches, Scope of Permissible Searches, Suspicionless Searches.
- California Court of Appeal Reverses Superior Court’s Denial of Motion to Vacate Conviction Where Defendant Established His Failure to Understand the Immigration Consequences of Plea, Oct. 15, 2025. Mental Health, Failure to Address/Advise Defendant, Aggravated Felony, Asylum, Knowingly and Voluntarily Made.
- Date of Firing Squad Execution Vacated for Utah Prisoner with Dementia, Oct. 1, 2025. Death Penalty/Death Row, Mental Health, Federal Death Penalty Act, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Ninth Circuit Springs California Prisoners from “Catch-22” Reading of PLRA, Oct. 1, 2025. Filing Fees (PLRA), Mental Health.
- CDCR Held in Contempt, Fined $112 Million in Longstanding Litigation Over Mental Health Care, Aug. 1, 2025. Staffing, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides.

