High Court to Decide if Dangerous Sex Offenders Can Be Held Indefinitely
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of a law enabling the federal government to indefinitely detain sex offenders after completion of their prison sentences.
The court agreed to hear a Justice Department appeal of a ruling that struck down a 2006 federal law enabling indefinite detention of "sexually dangerous" convicts who have completed their terms in federal prison.
A U.S. appeals court ruled the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act unconstitutional, saying the federal government isn't empowered to confine a person solely because of asserted "sexual dangerousness." The court ruled that the federal government is imprisoning the sex offenders without having proven that the "dangerousness" violates any law.
The issue arises from the case of Graydon Earl Comstock, serving a three-year sentence for receiving child pornography. Comstock is currently in the North Carolina federal prison in Butner. Though he has served two years of his sentence, no date has been set for his release.
Those opposing the controversial law argue that enabling indefinite detention violates due process protections by unduly relaxing the government's burden of proof. The law enables the federal government to impose what are in effect life sentences without having to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused has committed a crime.
The law is controversial in part because it relies on anticipation of future events, rather than evidence of actual crimes committed.
The Justice Department argues that Congress can reasonably seek to protect the public from sexually dangerous, mentally ill prisoners in federal custody.
The Justice Department says 95 inmates have been identified as potential candidates for indefinite detention after they complete their prison sentences; 77 of those inmates are housed at Butner.
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