Republicans renew call for civil commitment law
Republican lawmakers in Montpelier, Vermont renewed their call Wednesday for a law that would allow the state to hold people convicted of violent or sexual crimes indefinitely beyond their maximum prison terms.
The Republicans said public safety was endangered every time a criminal who is judged to be likely to commit the same or similar offenses again was released from prison. They said enacting a civil commitment law, as the process is known, would give the state the ability to keep those people off the street.
Under the proposal, someone convicted of violent or violent sexual crimes would be subject to an evaluation by experts. If the inmate were judged likely to commit such crimes again, he or she could be committed to a special psychological facility for treatment.
Gov. James Douglas and other Republicans have pushed hard for such a law since the impending release of a man, Kent Hanson, who was charged with killing his wife in 1964 and then killing another woman 20 years later.
Source: Boston.com News
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