Cooley v. Superior Court

Opinion

MORENO, J.

The Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA) (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.) 1 allows for the involuntary commitment of certain convicted sex offenders, whose diagnosed mental disorders make them likely to reoffend if released at the end of their prison terms. The issues we address here arise out of the provision of the SVPA that requires the superior court to hold a “probable cause hearing” as the initial step in the judicial process required to civilly commit a potential sexually violent predator (SVP). (§ 6602, subd. (a).)

Here, after a probable cause hearing was…