Oscar Jones is a sex offender who completed his criminal sentence but is being held pending a decision on whether California can continue to hold him as a sexually violent predator under California's civil commitment laws. He filed suit to challenge the conditions of his confinement. The 9th Circuit ruled this week Jones can bring his lawsuit. In so ruling, the Court noted, "Purgatory cannot be worse than hell."

With his hearing pending, Jones charged, among other things, that he was strip-searched unreasonably, blocked from practicing his religion and denied access to the courts. The case was tossed in September 2002 on the grounds Jones was late in filing his lawsuit.

In its ruling Monday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a "civil detainee" such as Jones who exhibits a good-faith pursuit of his claims, as a matter of fundamental practicality and fairness, isn't barred by the statute of limitations.