Sweeney v. Bartow

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

The appellant pleaded guilty in 1995 to two counts of third-degree sexual assault, see Wis. Stat. § 940.225(3), was sentenced to prison, and completed his prison sentence in November 2007. But before he was released, the state sought an order from a Wisconsin state court to detain him as a “sexually violent person.” See Wis. Stat. §§ 980.01(7), 980.02. He moved to dismiss the state’s case. He argued that the use of his assault convictions as the basis for civil detention as a sexually violent person would infringe the ex post facto clause of the federal Constitution…