Why Nebraska Needs Civil Commitment Proceedings for Sex Offenders
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Authors
Stenberg, Don
Issue Date
2000
Volume
33
Issue
4
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|David Burdette had a well-established career as a serial rapist in 1982 when he decided to begin raping the women who had been featured in a magazine article describing Omaha's ten most "eligible women." He was sentenced to twenty-two to thirty years in prison for those rapes on December 1, 1982, and was released on April 30, 1998. Burdette resumed his career by searching the obituary columns for young women recently widowed. Among his 1998 victims was a young Omaha widow with two daughters, ages seven and eight. Burdette tied one child to each of the woman's arms, and forced them to watch the rape. In many states, a sexual predator with Burdette's criminal history and psychological profile would have been subject to civil commitment in a psychiatric institution upon his release from prison in 1998. While many states have enacted stricter laws to provide for civil commitment of dangerous sexual predators, Nebraska's Legislature has made it increasingly more difficult to keep repeat sex offenders confined beyond the end of their criminal sentences. This article provides a brief history of Nebraska's statutes governing the civil commitment of sex offenders; describes the deficiencies in Nebraska's current statutory scheme; and proposes changes in Nebraska law to protect the public from repeat sexual predators such as Burdette....
Description
Citation
33 Creighton L. Rev. 721 (1999-2000)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law