560 U.S. 126 (2010)
Congress has the power to civilly commit sexually dangerous federal prisoners after their sentences end.
Good law. Still followed. Later cases may have narrowed it — see Scope. Binds every court in the country on the federal question it decides.
The federal government began civil commitment proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 4248, part of the Adam Walsh Act, against federal prisoners it considered sexually dangerous whose sentences were ending. The lower courts held that Congress had no constitutional power to pass the statute.
By 7–2, the Court held that the Necessary and Proper Clause gives Congress that power, relying on Congress’s role as custodian of its own prisoners. Because the statute reaches only people already in federal custody and gives states notice and the chance to take custody, it does not violate the Tenth Amendment.
Comstock extends the Hendricks model to the federal system. People nearing release from federal prison can be held under § 4248 on the same kind of findings a state commitment requires.
The Court decided only Congress’s power. It expressly left open equal protection, procedural and substantive due process and other rights-based challenges to the statute.
Last verified against the sources above on September 30, 2026.
These are plain-language summaries of court decisions, written for general education. A ruling binds only the courts beneath the court that issued it, later decisions and new laws can change what it means, and how it applies to any one person depends on facts a summary cannot capture. Read the opinion itself, and talk to a lawyer licensed in your state before relying on any case. This page is not legal advice.