People v. Feagley

Opinion

MOSK, J.

In In re Lynch (1972) 8 Cal.3d 410 [105 Cal.Rptr. 217, 503 P.2d 921], we held that the cruel or unusual punishment clause of the California Constitution prohibits the state from confining a nonviolent sexual offender in prison for a wholly indeterminate period which may extend to the end of his life. In the case at bar we are called upon to decide whether the state may achieve essentially the same result by the device of declaring the person to be a “mentally disordered sex offender” and “civilly” committing him for an indefinite period to an “institutional unit” on the grounds…