United States v. Comstock

United States v. Comstock

Argued January 12, 2010
Decided May 17, 2010
Full case name United States, Petitioner v. Graydon Earl Comstock, Jr., et al.
Docket nos. 08-1224
Citations

560 U.S. 126 (more)

Holding
The federal government may order the civil commitment of a mentally ill, sexually dangerous person beyond the conclusion of his federal sentence.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John G. Roberts
Case opinions
Majority Breyer, joined by Roberts, Stevens, Ginsburg, Sotomayor
Concurrence Kennedy
Concurrence Alito
Dissent Thomas, joined by Scalia (except part III–A–1–b)

United States v. Comstock, 560 U.S. 126 (2010), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, which held that the federal government has authority under the Necessary and Proper Clause to require the civil commitment of individuals already in Federal custody.[1] The practice, introduced by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, was upheld against a challenge that it fell outside the enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution. The decision did not rule on any other aspect of the law's constitutionality, because only the particular issue of Congressional authority was properly before the Court.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Background

Six days before Graydon Earl Comstock was to have completed a 37-month sentence for receiving child pornography, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales certified that Comstock was a sexually dangerous person. The law that Attorney General Gonzales was applying was ruled unconstitutional by lower courts on the grounds it exceeded Congress’s constitutional authority. Argued in January 2010 by Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the United States' position was that the "necessary and proper" clause gave Congress the power to enact the law.[9]

Opinion of the Court

Stephen Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court, that the "necessary and proper" clause permitted Congress to enact such a provision. John Roberts, and John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor joined Breyer's opinion. Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito filed opinions concurring in the judgment. Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion in which Antonin Scalia joined in all but Part III– A–1–b.[2]

Five considerations

The Court said: "We base this conclusion on five considerations, taken together." The five considerations are as follows.

See also

References

  1. ↑ JESSE J. HOLLAND, Court: Sexually dangerous can be kept in prison, Associated Press. Retrieved 5-16-2010.
  2. 1 2 "08-1224 United States v. Comstock (05/17/2010)" (PDF). Supremecourt.gov. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  3. ↑ "Predators and the Constitution". WSJ.com. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  4. ↑ "Sex offenders behind bars: How long?". Los Angeles Times. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  5. ↑ Kirkland, Michael. "U.S. Supreme Court: Throwing away the key for sex offenders?". UPI.com. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  6. ↑ Mears, Bill (2010-05-17). "Supreme Court: Sex offenders can be held indefinitely". CNN. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  7. ↑ Stohr, Greg (2010-05-17). "Sex-Offender Commitment Law Upheld by U.S. High Court". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  8. ↑ Biskupic, Joan (2010-05-18). "Sex offenders may be confined past sentences". Usa Today. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
  9. ↑ Justices Rule That Sex Offenders May Be Held After Their Sentences End, nytimes.com, by Adam Liptak, May 17, 2010
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