Like all other laws, they will expand and abuse it. Remember that when you are
serving time and find that they will never let you out because your marijuana
use can be a threat to the public. The prison system does not rehabilitate
anyone, they just make them worse. The judicial system does not protect the
constitutional rights of individuals anymore, they sell justice to the highest
bidder. I would not call that justice, I would call that an auction.
James
To: liberty-l...@yahoogroups.com
From: jon.rol...@constitution.org
Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 06:34:14 -0500
Subject: [Libertarian] Wrong but instructive: United States v. Comstock
Did Justice Thomas and the lower courts get it right? I think they did.
United States v. Comstock (08-1224)
Decided: May 17th, 2010
Breyer for the 5-4 Court; Concurrences by Kennedy and Alito, Dissent by
Thomas, joined by Scalia.
Full Text: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1224.pdf
NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE (Congress has authority to allow civil
commitment of mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond
the term of their sentence).
The Government initiated civil commitment proceedings against five federal
prisoners just before their scheduled release date. The Government
claimed that each prisoner had engaged in sexually violent conduct in the
past, and suffered from a mental illness that made him sexually dangerous
to others. The prisoners moved to dismiss the proceeding on constitutional
grounds. The District Court found for respondents, the Court of Appeals
affirmed, and the Supreme Court now reverses and remands.
The Court stated five reasons for their holding: the Necessary and Proper
Clause grants Congress broad authority to enact legislation; Congress has
long been involved in the mental healthcare of federal prisoners and this
statute merely adds to a set of statutes that have existed for decades;
Congress has a custodial interest in protecting the public from the
dangers posed by such prisoners and this statute is reasonably adapted to
that interest; the statute aptly accommodates state interests; and the
scope is appropriately narrow because it applies only to a small number of
federal prisoners. [Summarized by: Amy Cook]
--
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512/299-5001 jon.rol...@constitution.org
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