Timothy Paul Beagle v. the People of the State of Colorado

Summary

The court held that Colorado’s sexually violent predator designation and its accompanying lifetime registration and community-notification requirements are not criminal punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Although some features resemble punishment, the statutory text and structure show a nonpunitive legislative intent, and the punitive effects do not overcome that intent by the clearest proof. The court therefore affirmed without reaching whether the designation was cruel and unusual as applied to Beagle.