A six-year-old Arizona state law tried to go outside the accepted legal perimeters and lock up sex offenders in mental hospitals after their sentences were served. The Sexually Violent Persons Act allowed prosecutors to keep sex offenders indefinitely in mental hospitals if they could convince a jury that the offender had an untreatable sexual disorder.

Sex offenders commit heinous crimes. Be that as it may, they are entitled to equal treatment under the law. So as tempting as locking sex offenders up for life might be, it is not legal nor is it fair.

There is no doubt that the intention of this law had the public's best interest at heart, but it goes against the basic principles of American justice. If the legal rights of sex offenders are ignored, it sets a dangerous precedent that could utterly change the face of American justice.