WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said Monday that the federal government can keep “sexually dangerous” prisoners in custody past the completion of their sentences, overruling arguments that only states hold such power.
The ruling was 7-2, with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in dissent.
The high court reversed a lower court decision that said Congress overstepped its authority in allowing indefinite detentions of considered “sexually dangerous.”
“The statute is a ‘necessary and proper’ means of exercising the federal authority that permits Congress to create federal criminal laws, to punish their violation, to imprison violators, to provide appropriately for those imprisoned and to maintain the security of those who are not imprisoned by who may be affected by the federal imprisonment of others,” said Justice Stephen Breyer, writing the majority opinion.
President George W. Bush in 2006 signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which authorized the civil commitment of sexually dangerous federal inmates.