The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank – dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.
Founded in 1977, Cato owes its name to Cato’s Letters, a series of essays published in 18th- century England that presented a vision of society free from excessive government power. Those essays inspired the architects of the American
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Cato Unbound is a virtual trading floor in the intellectual marketplace, specializing in the exchange of big ideas. To be sure, there is no shortage these days of online forums for hashing out the issues of the day. All too often, however, the advantages of instant analysis and communication are compromised by obsession with the trivial and ephemeral. Here at Cato Unbound we try to step back, take a deep breath, and focus on the larger picture.
Each month, Cato Unbound will present an essay on a big-picture topic by an important thinker. The ideas in that essay will then be tested by the comments and criticism of equally eminent thinkers, each of whom will respond to the month’s lead essay ..Continued..
June 2015:
Civil commitment is a legal process that involuntarily confines individuals for purposes of medical treatment. It is not intended to punish a crime. Civil commitment has been most common for the severely mentally ill, and particularly for those who pose a danger to themselves or others. But in recent years, civil commitment has been extended to sex offenders, typically after they have already served a prison term.
Is civil commitment ever justified? If so, is it being applied fairly in our current legal system? Is it appropriate to treat sex offenders as though they were mentally ill? If it is appropriate in some cases and not in others, then how do we tell them apart?
Our lead essayist this month is Galen Baughman, a man who served nine years in prison, after which he successfully fought a civil commitment action in court. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he takes a skeptical view of what he terms “the medicalization of crime.” Responding to him will be Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Director of Professional Development and Quality Improvement for the Becket Family of Services David Prescott, Professor Eric Janus of the William Mitchell College of Law, and Professor Amanda Pustilnik of the University of Maryland School of law.
LEAD Essay:
Questionable Committments (Click to read essay) by Galen Baughman
Civil commitment is the legal practice of holding individuals who suffer from severe mental illness so that they may receive treatment. Even within its traditional bounds, civil commitment was problematic enough. But in recent years, civil commitment has expanded significantly. Now, young people who commit a sexual offense early in their lives stand to be stigmatized, and detained, indefinitely. Crucially this is not because they have violated a law with a particularly harsh penalty attached. It’s because the state believes that they might break the law again. In this essay, Galen Baughman challenges the practice of civil commitment, and particularly its extension to sex offenders, as an unwarranted de facto extension of our criminal justice system - one with far too few protections for the accused.
Coming Up
Essays by David Prescott, June 3; Eric Janus, June 5, and Amanda Pustilnik, June 10. Conversation to follow through the end of the month.
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