Samuel Francis

Career rapists and molesters who exhibit no willingness to change their behavior are deemed sexual predators and a danger to the community by several states. These states allow sexual predators to receive indeterminate sentences—indefinite prison terms that keep them imprisoned until they are judged to no longer be a danger to the community, even if it means detaining them after their original sentence has been served. In the following viewpoint, Samuel Francis argues that sexual predator laws are unconstitutional. He maintains that by imposing exceptional penalties on sexual predators, such laws violate the requirement that all people be treated equally under the law. Francis contends that if sexual predators can be imprisoned indefinitely, then the rights of everyone else are also jeopardized. Francis is a nationally syndicated columnist.

As you read, consider the following...