The Need for Coherence: State Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders in the Wake of Kansas v. Crane", Peter C. Pfaffenroth,  Stanford Law Review, June 2003 

Explores the legal history of sex offender civil commitment laws, focusing on Kansas v. Crane. The article also raises some questions about ambiguities in Crane, overly broad civil commitment statutes, and the blurred line between criminal and civil law. If are unable to access articles in PDF format, you can sign up at the Stanford Law Review website to view the article.