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What should Florida and other states do with all their old sex offenders?

By Douglas A. Berman

The question of this post follows from reading this interesting local article, headlined "Judge decides sex offender will stay confined at age 89."  Here are excerpts: He's the state's oldest living sexually violent predator, but who is the real Ralph Hawker? To some, he's an infirm World War II veteran who will turn 90 in September and uses a wheelchair because of the effects of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, thyroid and heart disease.  To others, he is a pedophile who, despite his age, would continue to prey on young boys if given the opportunity. "I don't think anybody's concerned about [Hawker] putting on his Nikes and running down the street chasing kids," Palm Beach Circuit Judge Chuck Burton said at a court hearing May 18 to decide whether the convicted pedophile should be released from a civil commitment center where he has been locked up since 2000...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on May 25, 2009 (boomark / email).