United States v. Comstock

E9785

United States v. Comstock is a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s authority to civilly commit mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond their release date under the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
United States v. Comstock et al. 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf U.S. Supreme Court case
federal court case
areaOfLaw civil commitment
constitutional law
federal powers
arguedDate 2010-01-12
citation 130 S. Ct. 1949
176 L. Ed. 2d 878
560 U.S. 126
concurrenceBy Anthony M. Kennedy
Samuel A. Alito Jr.
constitutionalProvision Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
Necessary and Proper Clause
country United States of America
surface form: United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 2010-05-17
decisionType majority decision with concurrences and dissent
dissentBy Clarence Thomas
dissentJoinedBy Antonin Scalia
docketNumber 08-1224
fullCaseName United States v. Comstock self-linksurface differs
surface form: United States v. Comstock et al.
holding Congress has authority under the Necessary and Proper Clause to enact 18 U.S.C. § 4248, permitting civil commitment of mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond their release date
joinedByInMajority Antonin Scalia
surface form: Antonin Scalia (in part)

Clarence Thomas
surface form: Clarence Thomas (in part)

John G. Roberts Jr.
John Paul Stevens
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Sonia Sotomayor
jurisdiction federal jurisdiction
language English
legalIssue federal civil commitment of sexually dangerous persons
scope of the Necessary and Proper Clause
lowerCourt United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
lowerCourtCitation 551 F.3d 274
lowerCourtHolding held that 18 U.S.C. § 4248 exceeded Congress’s authority
majorityOpinionBy Stephen G. Breyer
originatingCourt United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
party Graydon Earl Comstock Jr.
United States of America
surface form: United States
rearguedDate 2010-04-19
relatedConcept enumerated powers
federalism
sexually dangerous person
result Fourth Circuit judgment reversed
statuteInterpreted 18 U.S.C. § 4248
subsequentCitationFrequency frequently cited in cases involving the Necessary and Proper Clause
volumeInUnitedStatesReports 560
yearOfDecision 2010

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

United States v. Comstock fullCaseName United States v. Comstock self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: United States v. Comstock et al.
Necessary and Proper Clause majorCase United States v. Comstock