The People v. Darryl Watts

Summary

The Court of Appeals held that due process does not require a competency examination before a court conducts a SORA risk-level hearing, even when the registrant may be unable to understand or participate meaningfully in the proceeding. Applying the Mathews balancing framework, the Court concluded that SORA's existing safeguards, including counsel, disclosure, a clear-and-convincing-evidence burden, appellate review, and annual modification proceedings, adequately reduce the risk of error and that delaying classification would burden the State's public-safety interests. The Court also held that SORA permits classification 30 days before release from incarceration even when the registrant remains in civil psychiatric confinement.