Article

Due Process Implications in Sexually Violent Predator Hearings  

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Abstract

At the time of this article, over six thousand people are being detained under sexually violent predator commitment laws in the United States. Each one of these offenders have been ruled by the court as sexually violent predators based on psychologist expert testimony and findings which are predicated on diagnoses using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Current critique surrounds the possibility of due process implications in the courts over reliance on psychologist diagnoses as proof beyond a reasonable doubt. This article will argue that these due process implications are made a reality by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s incapacity to provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an offender is a sexually violent predator by illustrating how discrepancies between the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the practice of law render it so.

 

Keywords: SVP, Hendricks, Due Process, DSM

How to Cite:

Lapidus, L., (2025) “Due Process Implications in Sexually Violent Predator Hearings  ”, UMass Undergraduate Law Review 2(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/uulrj.3576