Dangerous Offender Legislation

Each country, state, province, region, and jurisdiction handle dangerous offenders in different ways. Over the past several decades, there has been a move on the part of some governments to get tough on crime by imposing mandatory minimum and indefinite sentences on offenders thought to be at a high risk for new crimes. This entry focuses on two examples of this movement in the Western world: the civil commitment laws that were adopted in several U.S. jurisdictions and the dangerous offender legislation adopted nationwide in Canada.

The difference between committal legislation in Canada and that in the United States is that in Canada, if offenders are considered dangerous, they are sentenced to indefinite terms of incarceration at the beginning of their sentences, whereas in the United ...