by Sarah Glazer

About the author: Sarah Glazer is a freelance writer in New York who specializes in health care and social policy issues.

Shortly before convicted child molester Earl Shriner was scheduled to be released from a Washington state prison in 1988, prison officials faced an awful dilemma. They knew Shriner had drawn pictures and written in his diary about torturing children once he was free, but he had served his sentence and had to be released. Prison officials tried to have Shriner committed to a mental institution, but a judge ruled that he was not mentally ill under the law.

Five months after his release, Shriner raped and sexually mutilated a 7-yearold boy.

The case raised an outcry in Washington state and led to the passage of a comprehensive legislative...