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.