Authorities who wish to make a civil confinement must institute committal proceedings by a petition to a court of competent jurisdiction. The standard of proof is generally clear and convincing evidence, which is lower than beyond a reasonable doubt, yet higher than probable cause. The person being committed has the Miranda rights that apply to him or her in such proceedings.
A judge hearing a petition for civil confinement must consider several elements or factors, including who may or may not be confined, how much must be proven with what evidence, lack of control, risk of harm to the community generally or to particular persons or classes of persons, and the likelihood of recidivism.
The very first case to be tried under the New York state civil confinement law was Douglas Junco who previously served almost 15 years in a New York prison for attempted rape in a 1992 case. Under New York civil confinement law, a jury ruled he suffered no mental problems and was not a threat, allowing him to go free in August 2007.
He was arrested on rape charges among other charges about six months later and subsequently sentenced to life plus 50 years.
Most recently, December, 2010 a level 3 sex offender, Keith Dare, was arrested on suspicion of a violent rape of a 21 year old woman in Albany, New York. He too was previously released after being deemed mentally stable by a civil confinement jury.
Read more about this topic: Civil Confinement
Famous quotes containing the word proceedings:
“And no one, it seemed, had had the presence of mind
To initiate proceedings or stop the wheel
From the number it was backing away from as it stopped:
It was performing prettily; the puncture stayed unseen....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)