The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a 2006 proposition known as "Jessica's Law" may violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection by indefinitely holding sexually violent predators in prison.
The court said a fact-finding hearing must be held to determine whether valid reasons exist for treating sex predators differently from others subject to civil confinement, such as mentally disordered offenders. The case was sent back to San Diego for such a hearing.
The ruling came in the case of Richard McKee, who had been convicted of committing lewd acts on two girls under 11. He challenged his confinement on several constitutional grounds, but the court found that only his equal protection argument had merit.



