I'm beginning to wonder if we brought this on ourselves. Although there's always been the problem with convicts in halfway houses reoffending, we've always let them out when (if) their time is up. But I don't think there was ever this kind of protest over halfway-house siting until they went create ones with high concentrations of sex offenders. Nobody (quite reasonably!) wants it in their back yard. It's too toxic.
IMHO we're going down the wrong path by bending and twisting the law after the fact. Execute them upon conviction or sentence them to life, that's all according to law. Go for it. But I find these post-sentence measures that seem to circumvent the law to be worrisome, threatening further erosions of our rights.
Case in point: In Washington some ex-offender has put up a website with names, addresses, etc. of police and state (prison?) employees. The courts have said that's okay. The U.S. Supreme Court said it was okay to publish sex-offender names, addresses, etc. because there was no privacy right involved (?!) and this website seems to grow right from that decision.
And while I don't want to see these guys get out, and I really hope they are getting real treatment since some are getting out...... but I remain nervous about "civil committment" laws and other potential erosions of our rights. Remember Reagan denouncing the Soviets for locking up their enemies in so-called "mental hospitals?" Now think of precedents handed to a President Hillary.
I think we need to think it out again.