Sexual Predator Statutes:
Court To Review Sex Predator Case

Friday, April 13, 2001

Court To Review Sex Predator Case

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Supreme Court agreed Monday to clarify what type of proof states need to justify locking criminals up as sexual predators after their prison term is over.

The court said it will hear Kansas' argument that it need not prove that a man was unable to control his dangerous behavior.

The state contends it is enough to show that someone is dangerous and has a serious mental health problem. In 1997, the justices ruled in an earlier Kansas case that states can keep sexually violent predators locked up after they finish serving their prison terms. The justices said the Kansas law, intended to protect society, required a finding of a ``personality disorder that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the person to control his dangerous behavior.''

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last July that a lower court strayed from that standard in the case of Michael T. Crane.

AP-NY-04-02-01 1009EDT