The federal government has the power to civilly commit dangerous sexual offenders (DSO) under a clause in the Constitution.<\/p>\n
In a highly controversial area of the law relating to dangerous sexual offenders and the government\u2019s ability to commit them, a recent case has made the issue a whole lot clearer. In United States v. Comstock, the courts said the federal government does have the power to civilly commit DSOs under the correct clause of the Constitution. The decision spelled out just what the power of the correct clause is in circumstances where a DSO is committed.<\/p>\n
In the first instance, the court found that the relevant clause for committal offers a broad delegation of legislative authority. Secondly, the relevant portion of the code relating to committal (18 U.S.C. \u00a7 4248) is considered to be a relatively humble addition to prison related mental health statutes, largely unchanged for decades \u2013 like a small rock (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The federal government has the power to civilly commit dangerous sexual offenders (DSO) under a clause in the Constitution. In a highly controversial area of the law relating to dangerous sexual offenders and the government\u2019s ability to commit them, a…<\/span><\/p>\n