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DOJ asks Fourth Circuit to rehear civil commitment case en banc

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers on Monday asked the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to revisit a January decision in which a three-judge panel ruled that indefinite civil commitment of "sexually dangerous" offenders was unconstitutional. The DOJ now seeks an en banc ruling on the case, and is disputing the panel's holding that civil commitment powers belong to the states. The government had unsuccessfully argued that federal power of civil commitment came from the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause. January's ruling invalidated part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which also established a national sex offender registry. This month, a federal district court ruled the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2006 (SORNA), which imposes penalties for failing to register, was also unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 24, 2009 (boomark / email).