ABSTRACT
There will always be groups of individuals deemed to be “dangerous” by society. Just which groups will be targeted may vary according to culture, place, and time. How best to punish, manage, supervise, or treat those considered dangerous has occupied the minds of many policymakers and commentators across the years. The issue of preventive detention has similarly arisen in a wide variety of public policy contexts in regimes such as those for
the mandatory detention of asylum seekers pending determination of their refugee status;
the quarantine of those with infectious diseases;
the involuntary commitment of those with severe mental illnesses in psychiatric institutions;
the detention of people under investigation for or suspected of involvement in terrorist activities; and
the civil commitment of sex offenders.
