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A timely note on the constitutional questions surrounding the Adam Walsh Act

By Douglas A. Berman

I just came across this timely new Note on SSRN, titled "Federalism Challenges to the Adam Walsh Act," that is forthcoming in the Boston University Law Review. Here is the abstract: This Note addresses two provisions of the Adam Walsh Act that have been challenged as violating principles of federalism: 18 U.S.C. § 4248, which provides for federal civil commitment of sexually violent predators, and 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a)(2)(A), which creates a new federal ?failure to register? crime for federal sex offenders.  Part I provides background information on the Adam Walsh Act and these two provisions.  Part II examines the possible sources of constitutional authority for these provisions, the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause.  This Part explains that these two clauses provide the basis for most of the federal criminal law, and describes how they might be invoked to justify the Adam Walsh Act provisions at issue...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 30, 2009 (boomark / email).