Lengthy Sex Offender Prison Terms at Risk at Supreme Court

Even casual viewers of “Law & Order” know that juries need to find defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to convict them, setting the stage for judges to send them to prison.

But for sex offenders who’ve violated supervised release, a federal law at the center of U.S. Supreme Court arguments on Tuesday lets judges put them back behind bars up to life without jury findings and with a lower standard of proof than needed at trial.

The government says the law is important for protecting the public, but a federal appeals court in Denver said it’s unconstitutional.

It violates ...