Allen v. Illinois (478 U.S. 364)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided July 1, 1986 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 478 U.S. 364 · 106 S. Ct. 2988
- Decided
- July 1, 1986
- Term
- October Term 1985
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented by this case is whether the proceedings under the Illinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (Act), Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 38, ¶105-1.01 et seq. (1985), are “criminal” within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee against compulsory self-incrimination. Petitioner Terry B. Allen was charged by information in the Circuit Court of Peoria County with committing the crimes of unlawful restraint and deviate sexual assault. Shortly thereafter the State filed a petition to have petitioner declared a sexually dangerous person within the meaning of the Act. After a preliminary hearing on the information, the criminal charges were dismissed for lack of probable cause, and the petition was apparently dismissed as well. Petitioner was then recharged by indictment, and the petition to declare him sexually dangerous was reinstated. Pursuant to the Act, with petitioner and counsel present, the trial court ordered petitioner to submit to two psychiatric examinations; the court explained the procedure as well as petitioner’s rights under the Act, and petitioner indicated that he understood the nature of the proceedings. At the bench trial on the petition, the State presented the testimony of the two examining psychiatrists, over petitioner’s objection that they had elicited information from him in violation of his…
Excerpt of a 39,723-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.