NCJ Number
147736
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the Community Protection Act 1990, passed by the legislature of Victoria (Australia) and its implications for the use of preventive detention for dangerous offenders.
Abstract
The legislation was passed as a Special Act of Parliament to enable the incarceration of a specific individual. This author argues that not all dangerous or deviant offenders are necessarily mentally ill and that states are able to design carefully limited and properly regulated forms of general preventive detention. This type of detention would be used in cases involving psychopaths suffering from antisocial and personality disorders, as well political terrorists or other offenders posing an immediate and unmanageable threat to the community. Such a system would come into operation during the period approaching the normal release date of the offender and would operate only in respect of those persons who had proved their danger to the community by committing the most serious offenses. Predictions of future violence would be made based on upon the offender's current conviction, criminal history, record of violent behavior while in prison, and psychiatric evaluation. Decisions as to the requisite degree of dangerousness should be made to a single judge of the Supreme Court from which there should be an appeal to the full Court. The Court would be empowered to order a further period of detention based upon perceived risk of future violent acts. 12 references