US Supreme Court says sex offenders can be held indefinitely.

CNN

"The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday the federal government has the
power to keep some sex offenders behind bars indefinitely after they
have served their sentences if officials determine those inmates may
prove "sexually dangerous" in the future.

"The federal
government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power
to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the
danger such prisoners may pose," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the
7-2 majority.
At issue was the constitutionality of federal
"civil commitment" for sex offenders who are nearing the end of their
confinement or who are considered too mentally incompetent to stand
trial.
The main plaintiff in the case, Graydon Comstock, was
certified as dangerous six days before his 37-month federal prison term
for processing child pornography was to end. Comstock and the others
filing suit remain confined at Butner Federal Correctional Complex near
Raleigh, North Carolina.
Three other inmates who filed suit served prison terms of three to
eight years for offenses ranging from child pornography to sexual abuse
of a minor. Another was charged with child sex abuse but was declared
mentally incompetent to face trial.
All were set to be released
nearly three years ago, but government appeals have blocked their
freedom. The government says about 83 people are being held under the
civil commitment program.
Corrections officials and prosecutors
determined the men remained a risk for further sexually deviant behavior
if freed. The inmates' attorneys maintain the continued imprisonment
violates their constitutional right of due process and argue Congress
overstepped its power by allowing inmates to be held for certain crimes
that normally would fall under the jurisdiction of state courts.
The law in question is the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and
Safety Act, which includes a provision allowing indefinite confinement
of sex offenders. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled
lawmakers had overstepped their authority by passing it, prompting the
current high court appeal.
"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 but who may be affected by
the federal imprisonment of others," Breyer wrote.
Breyer
equated the federal civil commitment law to Congress' long-standing
authority to provide mental health care to prisoners in its custody, if
they might prove dangerous, "whether sexually or otherwise."
In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said the federal government
overstepped its bounds.
"Congress' power, however, is fixed by
the Constitution," Thomas wrote. "It does not expand merely to suit the
states' policy preferences, or to allow state officials to avoid
difficult choices regarding the allocation of state funds."He
was joined by Justice Antonin Scalia.
The case represented a
victory for the federal government and the woman who argued the case on
its behalf, Solicitor General Elena Kagan. President Obama nominated
Kagan last week to serve on the Supreme Court.
The justices in April 2009 had blocked the imminent release of dozens
of sex offenders who had served their federal sentences after the Obama
administration claimed many of them remain "sexually dangerous." Chief
Justice John Roberts ordered the men be kept in custody while the case
worked its way to the high court.
Most violent sex offenses are
handled at the state level, and at least 20 states run programs in which
sexual predators are held indefinitely or until they are no longer
considered dangerous. The federal government's civil commitment program
is relatively new.
The Adam Walsh act was named after the son of
"America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh. Adam Walsh was kidnapped and
murdered by a suspected child molester in 1981.

The
act also increased punishments for certain federal crimes against
children and created a national registry for sex offenders. Those
aspects of the bill were not being challenged in this case."

Indefinite jail sentences for sex offenders are nothing new least of all in the UK.

Little Ted’s worker Vanessa George jailed indefinitely

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6957424.ece

Schnuffel wrote:Indefinite jail sentences for sex offenders are nothing new least of all in the UK.

Little Ted’s worker Vanessa George jailed indefinitely

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6957424.ece

This is somewhat different in that it applies to prisoners who have reached the end of a sentence that was imposed at trial. The SC has decided that the Federal Government can make a decision at that point to keep them locked up.