Cite as: 521 U. S. 346 (1997)
Breyer, J., dissenting
Carla Stovall). Others thought that effective treatment did not exist, id., at 503 (statement of Jim Blaufuss) ("Because there is no effective treatment for sex offenders, this Bill may mean a life sentence for a felon that is considered a risk to women and children. SO BE IT!")—a view, by the way, that the State of Kansas, supported by groups of informed mental health professionals, here strongly denies. See supra, at 378.
The Kansas court acknowledged the existence of "provisions of the Act for treatment" (although it called them "somewhat disingenuous"). 259 Kan., at 258, 912 P. 2d, at 136. Cf. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-29a01 (1994) (legislative findings that "prognosis for rehabilita[tion] . . . in a prison setting is poor, . . . treatment needs . . . long term" and "commitment procedure for . . . long term care and treatment . . . necessary"); § 59-29a09 ("commitment . . . shall conform to constitutional requirements for care and treatment"). Nor did the court deny that Kansas could later increase the amount of treatment it provided. But the Kansas Supreme Court could, and did, use the Act's language, history, and initial implementation to help it characterize the Act's primary purposes.
Second, the Kansas statute, insofar as it applies to previously convicted offenders such as Hendricks, commits, confines, and treats those offenders after they have served virtually their entire criminal sentence. That time-related circumstance seems deliberate. The Act explicitly defers diagnosis, evaluation, and commitment proceedings until a few weeks prior to the "anticipated release" of a previously convicted offender from prison. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59- 29a03(a)(1) (1994). But why, one might ask, does the Act not commit and require treatment of sex offenders sooner, say, soon after they begin to serve their sentences?
An Act that simply seeks confinement, of course, would not need to begin civil commitment proceedings sooner. Such an Act would have to begin proceedings only when an
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