Bailey v. Pataki

SACK, Circuit Judge:

This appeal requires us to decide whether the civil commitment of the plaintiffs following the expiration of their sentences for sexually based criminal offenses constituted violations of their procedural due process rights redressable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and, if so, whether the defendants are nonetheless entitled on the record before the district court to summary judgment dismissing the procedural due process claims on the grounds of qualified immunity.

The plaintiffs’ commitments were effected not through the state’s normal civil commitment procedures, but by means of…