State of Wisconsin, Petitioner-Appellant v. William Carpenter, Respondent-Respondent; State of Wisconsin…

Summary

The court held that Wisconsin's sexually violent person commitment statute is civil and remedial rather than punitive because its principal purposes are protecting the public and providing treatment to convicted sex offenders who present a high risk of reoffending. Accordingly, the statute does not violate the Double Jeopardy or Ex Post Facto Clauses. The court also upheld the probable-cause determination for Carpenter, concluding that he was within the statutory 90-day period and that no allegation of a recent overt act was required because he was incarcerated when the petition was filed. Justice Abrahamson, dissenting, adopted the contrary reasoning stated in the companion opinion, while Justice Bablitch, concurring, defended the majority's distinction between the statute's protective ends and its restraint-based means.