The New York State legislature is now prepared to discuss, in earnest, a measure that would help protect children from pedophiles. After having been held up in committee in the Democratically controlled Assembly for several years, a civil confinement bill is moving forward, largely due to pressure applied by Republicans in both houses.

It’s about time. This measure makes sense, and is one that will give some additional assurances that before individuals incarcerated for preying upon and sexually abusing children are released from jail, they will have to undergo a psychiatric examination. If, for any reason, it is deemed that they continue to pose a risk to children, they will be held in a mental health facility and given continued care.

This added measure of protection for our children is both legally justifiable and socially responsible. When applied at the time of sentencing, civil confinement cares for both the criminal and his victims, past and potential.

For their part, state Democrats raised some serious questions about the bill, including how it would be implemented and what it would cost. It is also obvious that a civil confinement measure is going to mean that New York State will need more and larger mental care facilities to provide confinement and care to those pedophiles who have served their jail sentences but continue to need mental health treatment before being released into society.

They also questioned the constitutionality of civil confinement pointing out that convicted criminals face no sentence longer than that imposed at the time of they are incarcerated.

None of these issues is insurmountable, however, and it is, in our opinion constitutionally acceptable to impose civil confinement at the time of sentencing. The bottom line is that it is time to stop talking and get down to writing a bill, passing it and keeping these individuals away from the most innocent among us—our children.