Filed Date: Nov. 2, 2006
Closed Date: 2012
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This case involved a constitutional challenge to certain provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. At issue was the civil commitment program for sexual predators as outlined in the Act. 18 U.S.C. § 4248.
The issue arose in five cases filed by the government in 2006, in which the government sought to institute commitment proceedings with respect to federal prisoners incarcerated at FCI-Butner whose sentences were about to expire. Each inmate had been convicted of a federal criminal offense involving sexual deviancy, such as possession of child pornography or sexual abuse of a minor. In each case, the Federal Public Defender filed a motion to dismiss the petition for hearing, arguing that the civil commitment provisions of the Act were unconstitutional. The five cases were not consolidated, but District Judge W. Earl Britt of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina decided to issue one ruling on all cases.
On September 7, 2007, the District Court (Earl Britt) granted the prisoners' motions and dismissed all of the government's petitions. In his order, Judge Britt determined that the civil commitment provision of the Adam Walsh Act was not a necessary and proper exercise of Congressional authority.
On January 8, 2009 the decision of the District Court was affirmed by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (Diana Gribbon Motz), holding that 18 U.S.C. § 4248 thus could not be sustained as an exercise of Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause or any other provision of the Constitution.
On May 18, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court (Breyer, J.) reversed and remanded the 4th Circuit's decision, finding that the Necessary and Proper Clause granted Congress broad authority to criminalize conduct, imprison those who engaged in that conduct, and enact laws governing prisons and prisoners in the course of carrying into execution the enumerated powers vested by the U.S. Constitution. The Court did not address other constitutional challenges to the law.
On December 6, 2010, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (Diana Gribbon Motz) reversed and remanded the decision of the District Court, finding that the respondents had not met the heavy burden of demonstrating that the clear and convincing evidence standard rendered the statute unconstitutional on its face.
On November 29, 2011, a judgment was issued by the United States District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina (Bernard A. Friedman), releasing the respondent from custody. This case is closed.
Note that our document collection for this case only contains the PACER docket for the first case filed, U.S. v. Comstock. The other cases included: U.S. v. Shane Catron, 5:06-HC-2202BR; U.S. v. Thomas Matherly, 5:06-HC-2205BR; U.S. v. Marvin Vigil, 5:06-HC-2206BR; and U.S. v. Markis Revland. 5:06-HC-2212BR.
Summary Authors
Gregory Pitt (7/13/2012)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4303769/parties/united-states-v-comstock/
Agee, G. Steven (Virginia)
Alito, Samuel A. Jr. (District of Columbia)
ABDULALEEM, RAHEEMAH F. (North Carolina)
Adler, Sanford Marshall (North Carolina)
Acker, G. Norman (North Carolina)
Agee, G. Steven (Virginia)
Alito, Samuel A. Jr. (District of Columbia)
Boyle, Terrence William (North Carolina)
Breyer, Stephen Gerald (District of Columbia)
Britt, William Earl (North Carolina)
Cacheris, James Chris (Virginia)
Friedman, Bernard A. (Michigan)
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader (District of Columbia)
Kennedy, Anthony McLeod (District of Columbia)
Motz, Diana Jane Gribbon (Maryland)
Roberts, John Glover Jr. (District of Columbia)
Sotomayor, Sonia (District of Columbia)
Stevens, John Paul (District of Columbia)
Thomas, Clarence (District of Columbia)
ABDULALEEM, RAHEEMAH F. (North Carolina)
Adler, Sanford Marshall (North Carolina)
AMERICA, UNITED STATES (North Carolina)
AMOROSA, JUDITH A. (North Carolina)
BECKER, SUSAN R. (North Carolina)
BELLAMY, LISA LYNN (North Carolina)
BERNSTEIN, RICHARD M. (North Carolina)
Beyer, Patricia Nicole (North Carolina)
BISCEGLIE, KYLE C. (North Carolina)
BOND, REBECCA B. (North Carolina)
Bondada, Kavitha (North Carolina)
Bowden, Constance M. (North Carolina)
BRICKLIN, SUSAN DEIN (North Carolina)
BRITT, STEPHEN J. (North Carolina)
BROWN, ALLISON R. (North Carolina)
CALHOUN, CHARLES L (North Carolina)
Campbell, Marcus D (North Carolina)
CAMPBELL, BRITTNEY N. (North Carolina)
CAMPION, MICHAEL E. (North Carolina)
Carson, Dylan Matthew (North Carolina)
CHERICO, COLIN MICHAEL (North Carolina)
Chilakamarri, Varu (North Carolina)
CLARK, JAMES B. (North Carolina)
COHEN, PHYLLIS M (North Carolina)
Colville, Michael (North Carolina)
COMBS, TAMMY OWENS (North Carolina)
Concepcion, Hilda M (North Carolina)
Conrath, Craig William (North Carolina)
COOPER, LINDSEY W. (North Carolina)
Cosentino, Michael (North Carolina)
CRUTCHLOW, JOHN T. (North Carolina)
Darr, Gary W. (North Carolina)
DAVID, GREGORY B. (North Carolina)
DEGNAN, DAVID ANDREW (North Carolina)
DELANEY, SHEILA K. (North Carolina)
DEVINE, KATHLEEN S. (North Carolina)
DICKEY, MELISSA L. (North Carolina)
Dunn, Lindsay C. (North Carolina)
EATON, JOSHUA H. (North Carolina)
Edgar, William C. (North Carolina)
EICHNER, JAMES A. (North Carolina)
Elliott, Nicole M. (North Carolina)
ENTWISTLE, ANN F. (North Carolina)
ESPOSITO, BETH A. (North Carolina)
Eyes, Megan Hoyt (North Carolina)
FINKELSTEIN, VERONICA JANE (North Carolina)
Fitzpatrick, Amy Ryan (North Carolina)
Friday, Kimberly (North Carolina)
FRIZZELLE, AMANDA DOWNS (North Carolina)
Fruchter, Daniel Hugo (North Carolina)
FRYE, MARY CATHERINE (North Carolina)
FULLMER, CHARLENE KELLER (North Carolina)
Geckos, Marietta (North Carolina)
GIBSON, VIRGINIA A. (North Carolina)
GILL, ERIC D. (North Carolina)
Gillingham, James Garland (North Carolina)
GIVHAN, ANNETTA FOSTER (North Carolina)
Glazer, David Bernard (North Carolina)
GOLDSTEIN, ROSS S. (North Carolina)
Graves, Debra (North Carolina)
GURAK, SHARON M. (North Carolina)
Hare, Scott Michael (North Carolina)
Harlow, James William (North Carolina)
HEIDRICH, KELLY E. (North Carolina)
Heipp, Justin T. (North Carolina)
Hubbert, David A. (North Carolina)
Hudak, Brian P. (North Carolina)
Hudson, Eric Alan (North Carolina)
HUGHES, JOHN B. (North Carolina)
Hunter, Jeffrey L. (North Carolina)
HUTCHINSON, MARGARET L. (North Carolina)
JACOBUS, RICHARD G. (North Carolina)
Jaworski, Thomas J. (North Carolina)
JAWORSKI, MYRIAH VALENTINA (North Carolina)
Johnson, Wyneva (North Carolina)
JOHNSON, THOMAS F. (North Carolina)
JOSEPH, JOHN N. (North Carolina)
Joyce, Barry James (North Carolina)
Jr, Charles Wendlandt (North Carolina)
JR., WILLIAM BRADLEY (North Carolina)
JR., BRIAN J. (North Carolina)
JR., ANTHONY J. (North Carolina)
JR., RICHARD MENTZINGER (North Carolina)
Kantor, Ryan M. (North Carolina)
KATINSKY, DAVID MARTIN (North Carolina)
KAUFMAN, PAUL W. (North Carolina)
KEAST, SARAH S. (North Carolina)
KENNEBREW, DELORA L. (North Carolina)
Kern, Charles Douglas (North Carolina)
Kincheloe, Richard A. (North Carolina)
KING, LORETTA (North Carolina)
Kirkwood, Koleen (North Carolina)
KREINDLER, MITCHELL R. (North Carolina)
KURLAND, AMY L. (North Carolina)
Lambert, E. Christopher (North Carolina)
Lang, K. Michael (North Carolina)
LANGFORD, ANNE (North Carolina)
Lee, Lynn Yuhee (North Carolina)
Leonard, Jacqueline Margaret (North Carolina)
LEVY, MICHAEL L. (North Carolina)
LLORET, RICHARD A. (North Carolina)
Love, James H. (North Carolina)
MACCOON, JOHN P. (North Carolina)
MACKO, MICHAEL S. (North Carolina)
MAGNANINI, ROBERT A. (North Carolina)
Mahr, Eric J. (North Carolina)
Maier, Peter Rolf (North Carolina)
MARK, NICOLE R. (North Carolina)
Matelson, Bennett Jorg (North Carolina)
Matthew-Daniel, Eyitayo Oritsematosan (North Carolina)
Mauro, Thomas A. (North Carolina)
MAY, MARILYN S. (North Carolina)
MCCABE, BRIAN JAMES (North Carolina)
McGonigal, Alan G. (North Carolina)
MCKEEVER, MICHAEL T. (North Carolina)
McNeil, Ronald M. (North Carolina)
MEEHAN, PATRICK L. (North Carolina)
MEMEGER, ZANE D. (North Carolina)
MICHAUD, MELISSA JULIA (North Carolina)
Moore, Thomas (North Carolina)
Morgan, Keith V. (North Carolina)
MORGAN, MICHELLE (North Carolina)
Mroczek, Cara M. (North Carolina)
Mucchetti, Peter Joseph (North Carolina)
MURPHY, NICHOLAS ULYSSES (North Carolina)
Musallam, Samer Makram (North Carolina)
Nolan, Andrew L. (North Carolina)
Oberdick, David G. (North Carolina)
OLIPHANT, DARA B (North Carolina)
PARKER, VIVECA D (North Carolina)
PAVLOCK, JAMES R. (North Carolina)
Pearce, Jane E. (North Carolina)
PEREZ, THOMAS E. (North Carolina)
Phillips, Amy (North Carolina)
Pineda, Christopher D (North Carolina)
POWEL, VIRGINIA R. (North Carolina)
Powell, William J. (North Carolina)
PUTIGNANO, PETER JOSEPH (North Carolina)
Quinlan, Tracy A. (North Carolina)
REID, SCOTT WEBSTER (North Carolina)
ROMERO, JACQUELINE CHRISTINE (North Carolina)
Rosenthal, Herbert A. (North Carolina)
Russell, W. Bradley (North Carolina)
Saltiel, Steven J. (North Carolina)
Schollaert, Albert W. (North Carolina)
Schonbachler, Katharine (North Carolina)
SELLERS, CATHERINE N. (North Carolina)
SHEEHAN, JAMES G. (North Carolina)
SHUTLER, SHARON K. (North Carolina)
Siegel, Matthew David (North Carolina)
Simpson, W. Scott (North Carolina)
Sindel, Patricia Leigh (North Carolina)
SINHA, NABINA J. (North Carolina)
Sither, John W. (North Carolina)
Skirtich, Paul E. (North Carolina)
SMITH, STACEY L.B. (North Carolina)
SOTO, ESTEBAN S.M. (North Carolina)
STILES, MICHAEL R. (North Carolina)
STONE, DAVID S. (North Carolina)
Strup, Nathan L. (North Carolina)
SULLIVAN, GERALD B. (North Carolina)
SWEET, JOEL M. (North Carolina)
Tarlov, Yvette F. (North Carolina)
TAYLOR, CLAIRE H. (North Carolina)
TAYLOR, ANNE B. (North Carolina)
TERRY, L. TIMOTHY (North Carolina)
Thompson, Tony J. (North Carolina)
Truong, John Cuong (North Carolina)
Valdez, Darrell C. (North Carolina)
Valerino, Gary J. (North Carolina)
Vanderhook, Katherine L. (North Carolina)
Vishio, Miriam Rose (North Carolina)
WAGNER, LORI K. (North Carolina)
Walker, Katherine M. (North Carolina)
Warner, Eric Paxton (North Carolina)
WARNER, KATHLEEN (North Carolina)
Warshawsky, John (North Carolina)
Welsh, Eric Damian (North Carolina)
WODATCH, JOHN L. (North Carolina)
WOLFE, KATHLEEN P. (North Carolina)
WONG, SHERRA TINYI (North Carolina)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4303769/united-states-v-comstock/
Last updated March 5, 2024, 3:01 a.m.
State / Territory: North Carolina
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Nov. 2, 2006
Closing Date: 2012
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Civil committment (non-civil rights): U.S. Department of Justice
Plaintiff Type(s):
U.S. Dept of Justice plaintiff
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Graydon Earl Comstock, Jr., None
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Available Documents:
U.S. Supreme Court merits opinion
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Source of Relief:
Issues
General: