OCTOBER TERM, 2000
Syllabus
SELING, SUPERINTENDENT, SPECIAL COMMITMENT CENTER
v.
YOUNG
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH
CIRCUIT
No. 99-1185. Argued October 31, 2000-Decided January 17,2001
Washington State's Community Protection Act of 1990 (Act)
authorizes the civil commitment of "sexually violent predators,"
persons who suffer from a mental abnormality or personality
disorder that makes them likely to engage in predatory acts of
sexual violence. Respondent Young is confined under the Act at the
Special Commitment Center (Center), for which petitioner is the
superintendent. Young's challenges to his commitment in state court
proved largely unsuccessful. Young then instituted a habeas action
under 28 U. S. C. § 2254, seeking release from confinement. The
District Court initially granted the writ, concluding that the Act
was unconstitutional. While the superintendent's appeal was
pending, this Court decided
Kansas v.
Hendricks,
521 U. S. 346,
holding that a similar commitment scheme, Kansas' Sexually Violent
Predator Act, on its face, met substantive due process
requirements, was nonpunitive, and thus did not violate the Double
Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses. The Ninth Circuit
remanded for reconsideration in light of
Hendricks. The
District Court then denied Young's petition. In particular, the
District Court determined that, because the Washington Act is
civil, Young's double jeopardy and
ex post facto claims must
fail. The Ninth Circuit reversed that ruling. The "linchpin" of
Young's claims, the court reasoned, was whether the Act was
punitive "as applied" to Young. The court did not read
Hendricks to preclude the possibility that the Act could be
punitive as applied. Reasoning that actual confinement conditions
could divest a facially valid statute of its civil label upon a
showing by the clearest proof that the statutory scheme is punitive
in effect, the court remanded the case for the District Court to
determine whether the conditions at the Center rendered the Act
punitive as applied to Young.
Held: An Act, found to be civil, cannot be deemed
punitive "as applied" to a single individual in violation of the
Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses and provide cause
for release. Pp. 260-267.
(a) Respondent cannot obtain release through an "as-applied"
challenge to the Act on double jeopardy and
ex post facto
grounds. The Act is strikingly similar to, and, in fact, was the
pattern for, the Kansas Act upheld in
Hendricks. Among other
things, the Court there applied
251
the principle that determining the civil or punitive nature of
an Act must begin with reference to its text and legislative
history. See 521 U. S., at 360-369. Subsequently, the Court
expressly disapproved of evaluating an Act's civil nature by
reference to its effect on a single individual, holding, instead,
that courts must focus on a variety of factors considered in
relation to the statute on its face, and that the clearest proof is
required to override legislative intent and conclude that an Act
denominated civil is punitive in purpose or effect.
Hudson
v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93, 100. With
this in mind, the Ninth Circuit's "asapplied" analysis for double
jeopardy and
ex post facto claims must be rejected as
fundamentally flawed. This Court does not deny the seriousness of
some of respondent's allegations. Nor does the Court express any
view as to how his allegations would bear on a court determining in
the first instance whether Washington's confinement scheme is
civil. Here, however, the Court evaluates respondent's allegations
under the assumption that the Act is civil, as the Washington
Supreme Court held and the Ninth Circuit acknowledged. The Court
agrees with petitioner that an "as-applied" analysis would prove
unworkable. Such an analysis would never conclusively resolve
whether a particular scheme is punitive and would thereby prevent a
final determination of the scheme's validity under the Double
Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses. Confinement is not a
fixed event, but extends over time under conditions that are
subject to change. The particular features of confinement may
affect how a confinement scheme is evaluated to determine whether
it is civil or punitive, but it remains no less true that the query
must be answered definitively. A confinement scheme's civil nature
cannot be altered based merely on vagaries in the authorizing
statute's implementation. The Ninth Circuit's "as-applied" analysis
does not comport with precedents in which this Court evaluated the
validity of confinement schemes. See,
e. g., Allen v.
Illinois, 478
U. S. 364, 373-374. Such cases presented the question whether
the Act at issue was punitive, whereas permitting respondent's
as-applied challenge would invite an end run around the Washington
Supreme Court's decision that the Act is civil when that decision
is not before this Court. pp. 260-265.
(b) Today's decision does not mean that respondent and others
committed as sexually violent predators have no remedy for the
alleged conditions and treatment regime at the Center. The Act
gives them the right to adequate care and individualized treatment.
It is for the Washington courts to determine whether the Center is
operating in accordance with state law and provide a remedy. Those
courts also remain competent to adjudicate and remedy challenges to
civil confinement schemes arising under the Federal Constitution.
Because the
252
Syllabus
Washington Supreme Court has held that the Act is civil in
nature, designed to incapacitate and to treat, due process requires
that the conditions and duration of confinement under the Act bear
some reasonable relation to the purpose for which persons are
committed.
E. g., Foucha v.
Louisiana, 504 U. S. 71, 79. Finally,
the Court notes that an action under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 is pending
against the Center and that the Center operates under an injunction
requiring it to take steps to improve confinement conditions. Pp.
265-266.
(c) This case gives the Court no occasion to consider how a
confinement scheme's civil nature relates to other constitutional
challenges, such as due process, or to consider the extent to which
a court may look to actual conditions of confinement and
implementation of the statute to determine in the first instance
whether a confinement scheme is civil in nature. Whether such a
scheme is punitive has been the threshold question for some
constitutional challenges. See,
e. g., Allen, supra.
However, the Court has not squarely addressed the relevance of
confinement conditions to a first instance determination, and that
question need not be resolved here. Pp. 266-267.
192 F.3d
870, reversed and remanded.
O'CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which
REHNQUIST, C. J., and SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, GINSBURG, and
BREYER, JJ., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion, in
which SOUTER, J., joined,
post, p. 267. THOMAS, J., filed an
opinion concurring in the judgment,
post, p.270. STEVENS,
J., filed a dissenting opinion,
post, p. 274.
Maureen Hart, Senior Assistant Attorney General of
Washington, argued the cause for petitioner. With her on the briefs
were
Christine O.
Gregoire, Attorney General,
Sarah Blackman Sappington, Assistant Attorney General,
David J.
W Hackett, Special Assistant Attorney
General, and
William Berggren Collins, Senior Assistant
Attorney General.
Robert C.
Boruchowitz argued the cause for
respondent.
With him on the briefs were David B. Hirsch, Dennis P. Carroll,
and Christine Jackson.*
* A brief of
amici curiae urging reversal was filed for
the State of Kansas et al. by
Carla J.
Stovall,
Attorney General of Kansas,
Stephen R. McAllister, State
Solicitor, and
Jared S.
Maag, Assistant Attorney
Gen-
253
JUSTICE O'CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court. Washington
State's Community Protection Act of 1990 authorizes the civil
commitment of "sexually violent predators," persons who suffer from
a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes them likely
to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence. Wash. Rev. Code §
71.09.010
et seq. (1992). Respondent, Andre Brigham Young,
is confined as a sexually violent predator at the Special
Commitment Center (Center), for which petitioner is the
superintendent. After respondent's challenges to his commitment in
state court proved largely unsuccessful, he instituted a habeas
action under 28 U. S. C. § 2254, seeking release from confinement.
The Washington Supreme Court had already held that the Act is
civil,
In re Young, 122 Wash. 2d 1, 857 P. 2d 989 (1993) (en
bane), and this Court held a similar commitment scheme for sexually
violent predators in Kansas to be civil on its face,
Kansas
v.
Hendricks, 521 U. S. 346 (1997). The
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit nevertheless concluded that
respondent could challenge the statute as being punitive "as
applied" to him in violation of the
eral, and by the Attorneys General for their respective States
as follows:
Bill Pryor of Alabama, Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Mark Pryor
of Arkansas, Bill Lockyer of California, Ken Salazar of Colorado,
Robert A. Butterworth of Florida, James E. Ryan of Illinois, Thomas
J. Miller of Iowa, Richard P. Ieyoub of Louisiana, J. Joseph
Curran, Jr., of Maryland, Thomas F. Reilly of Massachusetts,
Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan, Mike Moore of Mississippi,
Jeremiah W (Jay) Nixon of Missouri, Joseph P. Mazurek of Montana,
Don Stenberg of Nebraska, Frankie Sue Del Papa of Nevada, John J.
Farmer, Jr., of New Jersey, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Betty
D. Montgomery of Ohio, W A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, Hardy Myers
of Oregon, D. Michael Fisher of Pennsylvania, Charles M. Condon of
South Carolina, Mark Barnett of South Dakota, Jan Graham of Utah,
Mark L. Earley of Virginia, and James E. Doyle of Wisconsin.
Briefs of
amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for
the California Atascadero State Hospital Section 6600 Civil
Committees by
Joel E. Krischer; and for the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers by
Edward M.
Chikofsky and
Barbara E. Bergman.
254
Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses, and remanded
the case to the District Court for an evidentiary hearing.
I A
Washington State's Community Protection Act of 1990 (Act) was a
response to citizens' concerns about laws and procedures regarding
sexually violent offenders. One of the Act's provisions authorizes
civil commitment of such offenders. Wash. Rev. Code § 71.09.010
et seq. (1992 and Supp. 2000). The Act defines a sexually
violent predator as someone who has been convicted of, or charged
with, a crime of sexual violence and who suffers from a mental
abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to
engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined in a
secure facility. § 71.09.020(1) (Supp. 2000). The statute reaches
prisoners, juveniles, persons found incompetent to stand trial,
persons found not guilty by reason of insanity, and persons at any
time convicted of a sexually violent offense who have committed a
recent overt act. § 71.09.030. Generally, when it appears that a
person who has committed a sexually violent offense is about to be
released from confinement, the prosecuting attorney files a
petition alleging that that person is a sexually violent predator.
Ibid. That filing triggers a process for charging and trying
the person as a sexually violent predator, during which he is
afforded a panoply of protections including counsel and experts
(paid for by the State in cases ofindigency), a probable cause
hearing, and trial by judge or jury at the individual's option. §§
71.09.040-71.09.050. At trial, the State bears the burden to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is a sexually violent
predator. § 71.09.060(1).
Upon the finding that a person is a sexually violent predator,
he is committed for control, care, and treatment to the custody of
the department of social and health services.
Ibid. Once
confined, the person has a right to adequate care
255
and individualized treatment. § 71.09.080(2). The person is also
entitled to an annual examination of his mental condition. §
71.09.070. If that examination indicates that the individual's
condition is so changed that he is not likely to engage in
predatory acts of sexual violence, state officials must authorize
the person to petition the court for conditional release or
discharge. § 71.09.090(1). The person is entitled to a hearing at
which the State again bears the burden of proving beyond a
reasonable doubt that he is not safe to be at large.
Ibid.
The person may also independently petition the court for release. §
71.09.090(2). At a show cause hearing, if the court finds probable
cause to believe that the person is no longer dangerous, a full
hearing will be held at which the State again bears the burden of
proof.
Ibid.
The Act also provides a procedure to petition for conditional
release to a less restrictive alternative to confinement. §
71.09.090. Before ordering conditional release, the court must find
that the person will be treated by a state certified sexual
offender treatment provider, that there is a specific course of
treatment, that housing exists that will be sufficiently secure to
protect the community, and that the person is willing to comply
with the treatment and supervision requirements. § 71.09.092.
Conditional release is subject to annual review until the person is
unconditionally released. §§ 71.09.096, 71.09.098.
B
Respondent, Andre Brigham Young, was convicted of six rapes over
three decades. App. to Pet. for Cert. 33a. Young was scheduled to
be released from prison for his most recent conviction in October
1990. One day prior to his scheduled release, the State filed a
petition to commit Young as a sexually violent predator.
Id., at 32a.
At the commitment hearing, Young's mental health experts
testified that there is no mental disorder that makes a person
likely to reoffend and that there is no way to predict accurately
who will reoffend. The State called an expert
256
who testified, based upon a review of Young's records, that
Young suffered from a severe personality disorder not otherwise
specified with primarily paranoid and antisocial features, and a
severe paraphilia, which would be classified as either paraphilia
sexual sadism or paraphilia not otherwise specified (rape). See
generally American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 522-523, 530, 532, 634,
645-646, 673 (4th ed. 1994). In the state expert's opinion, severe
paraphilia constituted a mental abnormality under the Act. The
State's expert concluded that Young's condition, in combination
with the personality disorder, the span of time during which Young
committed his crimes, his recidivism, his persistent denial, and
his lack of empathy or remorse, made it more likely than not that
he would commit further sexually violent acts. The victims of
Young's rapes also testified. The jury unanimously concluded that
Young was a sexually violent predator.
Young and another individual appealed their commitments in state
court, arguing that the Act violated the Double Jeopardy,
Ex
Post Facto, Due Process, and Equal Protection Clauses of the
Federal Constitution. In major respects, the Washington Supreme
Court held that the Act is constitutional.
In re Young, 122
Wash. 2d 1, 857 P. 2d 989 (1993) (en bane). To the extent the court
concluded that the Act violated due process and equal protection
principles, those rulings are reflected in subsequent amendments to
the Act. See Part I-A,
supra.
The Washington court reasoned that the claimants' double
jeopardy and
ex post facto claims hinged on whether the Act
is civil or criminal in nature. Following this Court's precedents,
the court examined the language of the Act, the legislative
history, and the purpose and effect of the statutory scheme. The
court found that the legislature clearly intended to create a civil
scheme both in the statutory language and legislative history. The
court then turned to
257
examine whether the actual impact of the Act is civil or
criminal. The Act, the court concluded, is concerned with treating
committed persons for a current mental abnormality, and protecting
society from the sexually violent acts associated with that
abnormality, rather than being concerned with criminal culpability.
The court distinguished the goals of incapacitation and treatment
from the goal of punishment. The court found that the Washington
Act is designed to further legitimate goals of civil confinement
and that the claimants had failed to provide proof to the contrary.
122 Wash. 2d, at 18-25, 857 P. 2d, at 996-1000.
The Act spawned several other challenges in state and federal
court, two of which bear mention. Richard Turay, committed as a
sexually violent predator, filed suit in Federal District Court
against Center officials under Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U. S. C. §
1983, alleging unconstitutional conditions of confinement and
inadequate treatment at the Center. In 1994, a jury concluded that
the Center had failed to provide constitutionally adequate mental
health treatment. App. 64-68. The court ordered officials at the
Center to bring the institution up to constitutional standards,
appointing a Special Master to monitor progress at the Center. The
Center currently operates under an injunction.
Turay v.
Seling, 108 F. Supp. 2d 1148 (WD Wash. 2000). See also Brief
for Petitioner 8-9.
Turay also appealed his commitment as a sexually violent
predator in state court, claiming, among other things, that the
conditions of confinement at the Center rendered the Washington Act
punitive "as applied" to him in violation of the Double Jeopardy
Clause. The Washington Supreme Court ruled that Turay's commitment
was valid.
In re Turay, 139 Wash. 2d 379, 986 P. 2d 790
(1999) (en banc). The court explained that in
Young, it had
concluded that the Act is civil. 139 Wash. 2d, at 415, 986 P. 2d,
at 809. The court also noted that this Court had recently held
Kansas' Sexually Violent Predator Act, nearly identical to
Washington's Act,
258
to be civil on its face.
Ibid. The Washington Supreme
Court rejected Turay's theory of double jeopardy, reasoning that
the double jeopardy claim must be resolved by asking whether the
Act itself is civil.
Id., at 416-417, 986 P. 2d, at 810
(citing
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997)). The
court concluded that Turay's proper remedy for constitutional
violations in conditions of confinement at the Center was his §
1983 action for damages and injunctive relief. 139 Wash. 2d, at
420, 986 P. 2d, at 812.
C
That brings us to the action before this Court. In 1994, after
unsuccessful challenges to his confinement in state court, Young
filed a habeas action under 28 U. S. C. § 2254 against the
superintendent of the Center. Young contended that the Act was
unconstitutional and that his confinement was illegal. He sought
immediate release. The District Court granted the writ, concluding
that the Act violated substantive due process, that the Act was
criminal rather than civil, and that it violated the double
jeopardy and
ex post facto guarantees of the Constitution.
Young v.
Weston, 898 F. Supp. 744 (WD Wash. 1995).
The superintendent appealed. While the appeal was pending, this
Court decided
Kansas v.
Hendricks, 521 U. S. 346 (1997),
which held that Kansas' Sexually Violent Predator Act, on its face,
met substantive due process requirements, was nonpunitive, and thus
did not violate the Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto
Clauses. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded Young's case
to the District Court for reconsideration in light of
Hendricks. 122 F.3d
38 (1997).
On remand, the District Court denied Young's petition.
Young appealed and the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded in
part and affirmed in part.
192 F.3d
870 (1999). The Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court's
ruling that Young's confinement did not violate the substantive due
process requirement that the State prove mental illness
259
and dangerousness to justify confinement.
Id., at 876.
The Court of Appeals also left undisturbed the District Court's
conclusion that the Act meets procedural due process and equal
protection guarantees, and the District Court's rejection of
Young's challenges to his commitment proceedings.
Id., at
876-877. Young did not seek a petition for a writ of certiorari to
the Ninth Circuit for its decision affirming the District Court in
these respects, and accordingly, those issues are not before this
Court.
The Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court's determination
that because the Washington Act is civil, Young's double jeopardy
and
ex post facto claims must fail. The "linchpin" of
Young's claims, the court reasoned, was whether the Act was
punitive "as applied" to Young.
Id., at 873. The court did
not read this Court's decision in
Hendricks to preclude the
possibility that the Act could be punitive as applied. The court
reasoned that actual conditions of confinement could divest a
facially valid statute of its civil label upon a showing by the
clearest proof that the statutory scheme is punitive in effect. 192
F. 3d, at 874.
The Court of Appeals reviewed Young's claims that conditions of
confinement at the Center were punitive and did not comport with
due process.
Id., at 875. Young alleged that for seven
years, he had been subject to conditions more restrictive than
those placed on true civil commitment detainees, and even state
prisoners. The Center, located wholly within the perimeter of a
larger Department of Corrections (DOC) facility, relied on the DOC
for a host of essential services, including library services,
medical care, food, and security. More recently, Young claimed, the
role of the DOC had increased to include daily security
"walk-throughs." Young contended that the conditions and
restrictions at the Center were not reasonably related to a
legitimate nonpunitive goal, as residents were abused, confined to
their rooms, subjected to random searches of their rooms and units,
and placed under excessive security.
260
Young also contended that conditions at the Center were
incompatible with the Act's treatment purpose. The Center had a
policy of videotaping therapy sessions and withholding privileges
for refusal to submit to treatment. The Center residents were
housed in units that, according to the Special Master in the
Turay litigation, were clearly inappropriate for persons in
a mental health treatment program. The Center still lacked
certified sex offender treatment providers. Finally, there was no
possibility of release. A courtappointed resident advocate and
psychologist concluded in his final report that because the Center
had not fundamentally changed over so many years, he had come to
suspect that the Center was designed and managed to punish and
confine individuals for life without any hope of release to a less
restrictive setting. 192 F. 3d, at 875. See also Amended Petition
for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Supplemental Brief on Remand, and Motion
to Alter Judgment 4-5, 8-9, 11-12, 15, 20, 24-26, in No.
C94-480C (WD Wash.), Record, Doc. Nos. 57, 155, and 167.
The Ninth Circuit concluded that "[b]y alleging that [the
Washington Act] is punitive as applied, Young alleged facts which,
if proved, would entitle him to relief." 192 F. 3d, at 875. The
court remanded the case to the District Court for a hearing to
determine whether the conditions at the Center rendered the Act
punitive as applied to Young.
Id., at 876.
This Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari, 529 U.
S. 1017 (2000), to resolve the conflict between the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals and the Washington Supreme Court. Compare
192 F.3d
870 (1999), with
In re Turay, 139 Wash. 2d 379, 986 P.
2d 790 (1999).
II
As the Washington Supreme Court held and the Ninth Circuit
acknowledged, we proceed on the understanding that the Washington
Act is civil in nature. The Washington Act is strikingly similar to
a commitment scheme we reviewed
261
four Terms ago in
Kansas v.
Hendricks, 521 U. S. 346 (1997). In
fact, Kansas patterned its Act after Washington's. See
In re
Hendricks, 259 Kan. 246, 249, 912 P. 2d 129, 131 (1996). In
Hendricks, we explained that the question whether an Act is
civil or punitive in nature is initially one of statutory
construction. 521 U. S., at 361 (citing
Allen v.
Illinois, 478 U. S. 364, 368 (1986)). A court must ascertain
whether the legislature intended the statute to establish civil
proceedings. A court will reject the legislature's manifest intent
only where a party challenging the Act provides the clearest proof
that the statutory scheme is so punitive in either purpose or
effect as to negate the State's intention. 521 U. S., at 361
(citing
United States v.
Ward, 448 U. S. 242, 248-249
(1980)). We concluded that the confined individual in that case had
failed to satisfy his burden with respect to the Kansas Act. We
noted several factors: The Act did not implicate retribution or
deterrence; prior criminal convictions were used as evidence in the
commitment proceedings, but were not a prerequisite to confinement;
the Act required no finding of scienter to commit a person; the Act
was not intended to function as a deterrent; and although the
procedural safeguards were similar to those in the criminal
context, they did not alter the character of the scheme. 521 U. S.,
at 361-365.
We also examined the conditions of confinement provided by the
Act.
Id., at 363-364. The Court was aware that sexually
violent predators in Kansas were to be held in a segregated unit
within the prison system.
Id., at 368. We explained that the
Act called for confinement in a secure facility because the persons
confined were dangerous to the community.
Id., at 363. We
noted, however, that conditions within the unit were essentially
the same as conditions for other involuntarily committed persons in
mental hospitals.
Ibid. Moreover, confinement under the Act
was not necessarily indefinite in duration.
Id., at 364.
Finally, we observed that in addition to protecting the public, the
Act also provided treatment for sexually violent predators.
Id.,
262
at 365-368. We acknowledged that not all mental conditions were
treatable. For those individuals with untreatable conditions,
however, we explained that there was no federal constitutional bar
to their civil confinement, because the State had an interest in
protecting the public from dangerous individuals with treatable as
well as untreatable conditions.
Id., at 366. Our conclusion
that the Kansas Act was "nonpunitive thus remove[d] an essential
prerequisite for both Hendricks' double jeopardy and
ex post
facto claims."
Id., at 369.
Since deciding
Hendricks, this Court has reaffirmed the
principle that determining the civil or punitive nature of an Act
must begin with reference to its text and legislative history.
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997). In
Hudson, which involved a double jeopardy challenge to
monetary penalties and occupational debarment, this Court expressly
disapproved of evaluating the civil nature of an Act by reference
to the effect that Act has on a single individual. Instead, courts
must evaluate the question by reference to a variety of factors
"'considered in relation to the statute on its face'''; the
clearest proof is required to override legislative intent and
conclude that an Act denominated civil is punitive in purpose or
effect.
Id., at 100 (quoting
Kennedy
With this in mind, we turn to the Court of Appeals'
determination that respondent could raise an "as-applied" challenge
to the Act on double jeopardy and
ex post facto grounds and
seek release from confinement. Respondent essentially claims that
the conditions of his confinement at the Center are too
restrictive, that the conditions are incompatible with treatment,
and that the system is designed to result in indefinite
confinement. Respondent's claims are in many respects like the
claims presented to the Court in
Hendricks, where we
concluded that the conditions of confinement were largely explained
by the State's goal to incapacitate, not to punish. 521 U. S., at
362-368. Nevertheless,
263
we do not deny that some of respondent's allegations are
serious. Nor do we express any view as to how his allegations would
bear on a court determining in the first instance whether
Washington's confinement scheme is civil. Here, we evaluate
respondent's allegations as presented in a double jeopardy and
ex post facto challenge under the assumption that the Act is
civil.
We hold that respondent cannot obtain release through an
"as-applied" challenge to the Washington Act on double jeopardy and
ex post facto grounds. We agree with petitioner that an
"as-applied" analysis would prove unworkable. Such an analysis
would never conclusively resolve whether a particular scheme is
punitive and would thereby prevent a final determination of the
scheme's validity under the Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post
Facto Clauses. Brief for Petitioner 30; Reply Brief for
Petitioner 9. Unlike a fine, confinement is not a fixed event. As
petitioner notes, it extends over time under conditions that are
subject to change. The particular features of confinement may
affect how a confinement scheme is evaluated to determine whether
it is civil rather than punitive, but it remains no less true that
the query must be answered definitively. The civil nature of a
confinement scheme cannot be altered based merely on vagaries in
the implementation of the authorizing statute.
Respondent contends that the Ninth Circuit's "as-applied"
analysis comports with this Court's precedents. He points out that
this Court has considered conditions of confinement in evaluating
the validity of confinement schemes in the past. Brief for
Respondent 11-16, 29 (citing
Hendricks, supra, at
363;
Reno v.
Flores, 507 U. S. 292, 301-302
(1993);
United States v.
Salerno, 481 U. S. 739, 747-748
(1987);
Allen v.
Illinois, supra, at 373-374;
Schall v.
Martin, 467 U. S. 253, 269273
(1984)). All of those cases, however, presented the question
whether the Act at issue was punitive. Permitting respondent's
as-applied challenge would invite an end run around the Washington
Supreme Court's decision that the
264
Act is civil in circumstances where a direct attack on that
decision is not before this Court.
JUSTICE THOMAS, concurring in the judgment, takes issue with our
view that the question before the Court concerns an as-applied
challenge to a civil Act. He first contends that respondent's
challenge is not a true "as-applied" challenge because respondent
does not claim that the statute "'by its own terms' is
unconstitutional as applied ... but rather that the statute is not
being applied according to its terms at all."
Post, at 271.
We respectfully disagree. The Act requires "adequate care and
individualized treatment," Wash. Rev. Code § 71.09.080(2) (Supp.
2000), but the Act is silent with respect to the confinement
conditions required at the Center, and that is the source of many
of respondent's complaints, see
supra, at 259-260. JUSTICE
THOMAS next contends that we incorrectly assume that the Act is
civil, instead of viewing the Act as
"'otherwise ... civil,'
or civil 'on its face.'"
Post, at 270 (emphasis added by
THOMAS, J.). However the Washington Act is described, our analysis
in this case turns on the prior finding by the Washington Supreme
Court that the Act is civil, and this Court's decision in
Hendricks that a nearly identical Act was civil. Petitioner
could not have claimed that the Washington Act is "otherwise" or
"facially" civil without relying on those prior decisions.
In dissent, JUSTICE STEVENS argues that we "incorrectly
assum[eJ" that the Act is "necessarily civil,"
post, at 275,
but the case has reached this Court under that very assumption. The
Court of Appeals recognized that the Act is civil, and treated
respondent's claim as an individual, "as-applied" challenge to the
Act. The Court of Appeals then remanded the case to the District
Court for an evidentiary hearing to determine respondent's
conditions of confinement. Contrary to the dissent's
characterization of the case, the Court of Appeals did not purport
to undermine the validity of the Washington Act as a civil
confinement scheme. The court did not conclude that respondent's
allegations, if substanti-
265
ated, would be sufficient to refute the Washington Supreme
Court's conclusion that the Act is civil, and to require the
release of all those confined under its authority. The Ninth
Circuit addressed only respondent's individual case, and we do not
decide claims that are not presented by the decision below.
Matsushita Elec. Industrial Co. v.
Epstein, 516 U. S.
367, 379 (1996). We reject the Ninth Circuit's "asapplied" analysis
for double jeopardy and
ex post facto claims as
fundamentally flawed.
III
Our decision today does not mean that respondent and others
committed as sexually violent predators have no remedy for the
alleged conditions and treatment regime at the Center. The text of
the Washington Act states that those confined under its authority
have the right to adequate care and individualized treatment. Wash.
Rev. Code § 71.09.080(2) (Supp. 2000); Brief for Petitioner 14. As
petitioner acknowledges, if the Center fails to fulfill its
statutory duty, those confined may have a state law cause of
action. Tr. of Oral Arg. 6, 10-11, 52. It is for the Washington
courts to determine whether the Center is operating in accordance
with state law and provide a remedy.
State courts, in addition to federal courts, remain competent to
adjudicate and remedy challenges to civil confinement schemes
arising under the Federal Constitution. As noted above, the
Washington Supreme Court has already held that the Washington Act
is civil in nature, designed to incapacitate and to treat.
In re
Young, 122 Wash. 2d, at 18-25, 857 P. 2d, at 996-1000.
Accordingly, due process requires that the conditions and duration
of confinement under the Act bear some reasonable relation to the
purpose for which persons are committed.
Foucha v.
Louisiana, 504
U. S. 71, 79
(1992); Youngberg v.
Romeo, 457 U. S. 307, 324
(1982);
Jackson v.
Indiana, 406 U. S. 715, 738
(1972).
Finally, we note that a § 1983 action against the Center is
pending in the Western District of Washington. See
supra,
266
at 257. The Center operates under an injunction that requires it
to adopt and implement a plan for training and hiring competent sex
offender therapists; to improve relations between residents and
treatment providers; to implement a treatment program for residents
containing elements required by prevailing professional standards;
to develop individual treatment programs; and to provide a
psychologist or psychiatrist expert in the diagnosis and treatment
of sex offenders to supervise the staff. App. 67. A Special Master
has assisted in bringing the Center into compliance with the
injunction. In its most recent published opinion on the matter, the
District Court noted some progress at the Center in meeting the
requirements of the injunction.
Turay v.
Seling, 108
F. Supp. 2d, at 1154-1155.
This case gives us no occasion to consider how the civil nature
of a confinement scheme relates to other constitutional challenges,
such as due process, or to consider the extent to which a court may
look to actual conditions of confinement and implementation of the
statute to determine in the first instance whether a confinement
scheme is civil in nature. JUSTICE SCALIA, concurring, contends
that conditions of confinement are irrelevant to determining
whether an Act is civil unless state courts have interpreted the
Act as permitting those conditions. By contrast, JUSTICE STEVENS
would consider conditions of confinement at any time in order to
gain "full knowledge of the effects of the statute."
Post,
at 277.
Whether a confinement scheme is punitive has been the threshold
question for some constitutional challenges. See,
e. g.,
Kansas v.
Hendricks, 521 U. S. 346 (1997)
(double jeopardy and
ex post facto); United States v.
Salerno, 481
U. S. 739 (1987) (due process);
Allen v.
Illinois, 478
U. S. 364 (1986) (Fifth Amendment privilege against
self-incrimination). Whatever these cases may suggest about the
relevance of conditions of confinement, they do not endorse the
approach of the dissent, which would render the inquiry into the
"ef-
267
fects of the statute,"
post, at 277, completely open
ended. In one case, the Court refused to consider alleged
confinement conditions because the parties had entered into a
consent decree to improve conditions.
Flores, 507 U. S., at
30l. The Court presumed that conditions were in compliance with the
requirements of the consent decree.
Ibid. In another case,
the Court found that anecdotal case histories and a statistical
study were insufficient to render a regulatory confinement scheme
punitive.
Martin, 467 U. S., at 272. In such cases, we have
decided whether a confinement scheme is punitive notwithstanding
the inherent difficulty in ascertaining current conditions and
predicting future events.
We have not squarely addressed the relevance of conditions of
confinement to a first instance determination, and that question
need not be resolved here. An Act, found to be civil, cannot be
deemed punitive "as applied" to a single individual in violation of
the Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses and provide
cause for release.
The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit is therefore reversed, and the case is remanded for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
JUSTICE SCALIA, with whom JUSTICE SOUTER joins, concurring.
I agree with the Court's holding that a statute, "found to be
civil [in nature], cannot be deemed punitive" or criminal "as
applied" for purposes of the
Ex Post Facto and Double
Jeopardy Clauses.
Ante this page. The Court accurately
observes that this holding gives us "no occasion to consider ...
the extent to which a court may look to actual conditions of
confinement and implementation of the statute to determine in the
first instance whether a confinement scheme is civil in nature."
Ante, at 266. I write separately to dissociate myself from
any implication that this reserved point may be an open question. I
do not regard it as such since, three
268
years ago, we rejected a similar double jeopardy challenge
(based upon the statute's implementation "as applied" to the
petitioners), where the statute had
not yet been determined
to be civil in nature, and where we
were making that
determination "in the first instance." See
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997). To be
consistent with the most narrow holding of that case (which, unlike
this one, did not involve imposition of confinement), any
consideration of subsequent implementation in the course of making
a "first instance" determination cannot extend to
all
subsequent implementation, but must be limited to implementation of
confinement, and of other impositions that are "not a fixed event,"
ante, at 263. That, however, would be a peculiar limitation,
since even "fixed events" such as the imposition of a fine can, in
their implementation, acquire penal aspectsexemplified in
Hudson by the allegedly punitive size of the fines, and by
the availability of reduction for "good-faith" violations, see 522
U. S., at 97-98, 104. Moreover, the language and the reasoning of
Hudson leave no room for such a peculiar limitation.
In that case, the petitioners contended that the punitive nature
of the statute that had been applied to them could be assessed by
considering the aforementioned features of the fines. We flatly
rejected that contention, which found support in our prior decision
in
United States v.
Halper, 490 U. S. 435 (1989).
Halper, we said, had erroneously made a "significant
departure" from our prior jurisprudence, in deciding "to 'asses[s]
the character of the actual sanctions imposed,' 490 U. S., at 447,
rather than, as
Kennedy [v.
Mendoza-Martinez,
372 U. S. 144
(1963),] demanded, evaluating the 'statute on its face' to
determine whether it provided for what amounted to a criminal
sanction, [id.], at 169." 522 U. S., at 101. The
Kennedy
factors, we said, "'must be considered in relation to the statute
on its face,'" 522 U. S., at 100, quoting from
Kennedy v.
Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U. S. 144, 169
(1963). We held that "[t]he fact that petitioners'
269
'good faith' was considered in determining the amount of the
penalty to be imposed in this case [a circumstance that would
normally indicate the assessment is punitive] is irrelevant, as we
look only to 'the statute on its face' to determine whether a
penalty is criminal in nature."
Hudson, supra, at 104,
quoting
Kennedy, supra, at 169. We repeated, to be sure, the
principle that the statutory scheme would be criminal if it was
sufficiently punitive "'either in purpose
or effeet,'"
Hudson, supra, at 99 (emphasis added), quoting
United States v.
Ward, 448 U. S. 242, 248-249
(1980), but it was clear from the opinion that this referred to
effects apparent upon the face of the statute.
The short of the matter is that, for Double Jeopardy and
Ex
Post Facto Clause purposes, the question of criminal penalty
vel non depends upon the intent of the legislature;* and
harsh executive implementation cannot "transfor[m] what was clearly
intended as a civil remedy into a criminal penalty,"
Rex Trailer
Co. v.
United States, 350 U. S. 148, 154
(1956), any more than compassionate executive implementation can
transform a criminal penalty into a civil remedy. This is not to
say that there is no relief from a system that administers a
facially civil statute in a fashion that would render it criminal.
The remedy, however, is not to invalidate the legislature's
handiwork under the Double Jeopardy Clause, but to eliminate
whatever excess in administration contradicts the statute's civil
character. When, as here, a state statute is at issue, the remedy
for implementation that does not comport with the civil nature of
the statute is resort to the traditional state proceedings that
challenge unlawful executive action; if those proceedings fail, and
the state
*
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997),
addressed only the Double Jeopardy Clause. Since, however, the very
wording of the
Ex Post Facto Clause-"No State shall ...
pass any ... ex post facto
Law," U. S. Const., Art.
I, § 10, cl. 1 (emphases added)-leaves no doubt that it is a
prohibition upon
legislative action, the irrelevance of
subsequent executive implementation to that constitutional question
is, if anything, even clearer.
270
THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment
courts authoritatively interpret the state statute as permitting
impositions that are indeed punitive, then and only then can
federal courts pronounce a statute that on its face is civil to be
criminal. Such an approach protects federal courts from becoming
enmeshed in the sort of intrusive inquiry into local conditions at
state institutions that are best left to the State's own judiciary,
at least in the first instance. And it avoids federal invalidation
of state statutes on the basis of executive implementation that the
state courts themselves, given the opportunity, would find to be
ultra vires. Only this approach, it seems to me, is in accord with
our sound and traditional reluctance to be the initial interpreter
of state law. See
Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v.
Pullman
Co., 312 U. S.
496, 500-501 (1941).
With this clarification, I join the opinion of the Court.
JUSTICE THOMAS, concurring in the judgment.
We granted certiorari to decide whether "an
otherwise
valid civil statute can be divested of its civil nature" simply
because of an administrative agency's failure to implement the
statute according to its terms. Pet. for Cert. i (emphasis added).
The majority declines to answer this question. Instead, it assumes
that the statute at issue
is civil-rather than
"otherwise
... civil," or civil "on its face."
Young v.
Weston, 122 F.3d
38 (CA9 1997). And then it merely holds that a statute
that is civil cannot be deemed the opposite of civil-"punitive," as
the majority puts it-as applied to a single individual.
Ante, at 267. In explaining this conclusion, the majority
expressly reserves judgment on whether the manner of implementation
should affect a court's assessment of a statute as civil in the
"first instance."
Ante, at 263, 267. I write separately to
express my view, first, that a statute which is civil on its face
cannot be divested of its civil nature simply because of the manner
in which it is implemented, and second, that the distinction
between a challenge in the
271
"first instance" and a subsequent challenge is one without a
difference.
Before proceeding, it is important to clarify the issue in this
case. The majority adopts the Ninth Circuit's nomenclature and
refers to respondent's claim as an "as-applied" challenge, see,
e. g., ante, at 263, but that label is at best misleading.
Typically an "as-applied" challenge is a claim that a statute,
"by its own terms, infringe[s] constitutional freedoms in
the circumstances of [a] particular case."
United States v.
Christian Echoes Nat. Ministry, Inc., 404 U. S. 561, 565
(1972)
(per curiam) (emphasis added). In contrast,
respondent's claim is not that Washington's Community Protection
Act of 1990 (Washington Act or Act), Wash. Rev. Code § 71.09.010
et seq. (1992), "by its own terms" is unconstitutional as
applied to him,l but rather that the statute is not being applied
according to its terms at alP Respondent essentially contends that
the actual conditions of confinement, notwithstanding the text of
the statute, are punitive and incompatible with the Act's treatment
purpose. See
ante, at 259-260.
1 Respondent has made the claim that the terms of the Washington
Act are criminal so that his confinement under the Act thus
violates the Double Jeopardy and
Ex Post Facto Clauses, but
this claim was rejected below-first by the Washington Supreme
Court,
In re Young, 122 Wash. 2d 1, 18-23, 857 P. 2d 989,
996-999 (1993), and then by the Ninth Circuit,
Young v.
Weston, 192 F.3d
870, 874 (1999)-and has not been presented to this Court.
2 Disagreeing with this characterization, the majority contends
that the statute is silent with respect to conditions of
confinement. See
ante, at 264. Even if the majority were
correct-which it is not, see Wash. Rev. Code § 71.09.070 (requiring
annual examinations of each person's mental conditions); §
71.09.080(2) (Supp. 2000) (requiring "adequate care and
individualized treatment"); see also
In re Young, supra, at
18-23, 857 P. 2d, at 996-999 (discussing similar provisions on
conditions of confinement in 1990 version of Washington Act)-the
question on which we granted certiorari expressly assumes that the
statute "mandate[s]" the "conditions of confinement" that
petitioner seeks. See Pet. for Cert. i.
272
THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment
A challenge, such as this one, to the implementation of a
facially civil statute is not only "unworkable," as the majority
puts it,
ante, at 263, but also prohibited by our decision
in
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997). In
Hudson, we held that, when determining whether a statute is
civil or criminal, a court must examine the "statute on its face."
Id., at 101, quoting
Kennedy v.
Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U. S. 144, 169 (1963)
(internal quotation marks omitted). In so holding, we expressly
disavowed the approach used in
United States v.
Halper, 490 U.
S. 435, 448 (1989), which evaluated the "actual sanctions
imposed." 522 U. S., at 101, quoting
Halper, supra, at 447
(internal quotation marks omitted). Respondent's claim is flatly
inconsistent with the holding of
Hudson because respondent
asks us to look beyond the face of the Washington Act and to
examine instead the actual sanctions imposed on him, that is, the
actual conditions of confinement. Respondent argues, and the Ninth
Circuit held, that
Hudson's reach is limited to the
particular sanctions involved in that case-monetary penalties and
occupational disbarment-and does not apply here, where the sanction
is confinement.
Hudson, however, contains no indication
whatsoever that its holding is limited to the specific sanctions at
issue. To the contrary, as we explained in
Hudson, a court
may not elevate to dispositive status any of the factors that it
may consider in determining whether a sanction is criminal.3 522 U.
S., at 101. One of these nondispos-
3 The
Hudson Court referred to the seven factors listed
in
Kennedy v.
Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U. S. 144 (1963), as
"useful guideposts": "(1) whether the sanction involves an
affirmative disability or restraint; (2) whether it has
historically been regarded as a punishment; (3) whether it comes
into play only on a finding of
scienter; (4) whether its
operation will promote the traditional aims of
punishment-retribution and deterrence; (5) whether the behavior to
which it applies is already a crime; (6) whether an alternative
purpose to which it may rationally be connected is assignable for
it; and (7) whether it appears excessive in relation to the
alternative purpose assigned." 522 U. S., at 99-100, quoting
Mendoza-Martinez, supra, at 168-169 (internal quotation
marks and alteration omitted).
273
itive factors is confinement.
Id., at 99 (stating that
one of the factors is "[w]hether the sanction involves an
affirmative disability or restraint," quoting
Mendoza-Martinez,
supra, at 168 (internal quotation marks omitted)). Yet
elevating confinement to dispositive status is exactly what
respondent asks us to do when he advances his distinction between
confinement and other sanctions. Because
Hudson rejects such
an argument, respondent's claim fails.
An implementation-based challenge to a facially civil statute
would be as inappropriate in reviewing the statute in the "first
instance,"
ante, at 263, 267 (majority opinion), as it is
here. In the first instance, as here, there is no place for such a
challenge in the governing jurisprudence.
Hudson, which
requires courts to look at the face of the statute, precludes
implementation-based challenges at any time. Moreover, the
implementation-based claim would be as "unworkable,"
ante,
at 263 (majority opinion), in the first instance as in later
challenges. Because the actual conditions of confinement may change
over time and may vary from facility to facility, an
implementation-based challenge, if successful, would serve to
invalidate a statute that may be implemented without any
constitutional infirmities at a future time or in a separate
facility. To use the majority's words, the validity of a statute
should not be "based merely on vagaries in the implementation of
the authorizing statute."
Ibid.
And yet the majority suggests that courts may be able to
consider conditions of confinement in determining whether a statute
is punitive.
Ante, at 263, 266. To the extent that the
conditions are actually provided for on the face of the statute, I
of course agree. Cf.
Hudson, supra, at 101 (directing courts
to look at "'the statute on its face' "). However, to the extent
that the conditions result from the fact that the statute is not
being applied according to its terms, the conditions are
not
the effect of the statute, but rather the
274
effect of its improper implementation.4 A suit based on these
conditions cannot prevail.
***
The Washington Act does not provide on its face for punitive
conditions of confinement, and the actual conditions under which
the Act is implemented are of no concern to our inquiry. I
therefore concur in the judgment of the Court.
JUSTICE STEVENS, dissenting.
A sexual predator may be imprisoned for violating the law, and,
if he is mentally ill, he may be committed to an institution until
he is cured. Whether a specific statute authorizing the detention
of such a person is properly viewed as "criminal" or "civil" in the
context of federal constitutional issues is often a question of
considerable difficulty. See
Kansas v.
Hendricks,
521 U. S. 346
(1997) (reversing, by a 5-to-4 vote, a decision of the Kansas
Supreme Court invali-
4 The dissent argues that, "under the majority's analysis, there
is no inquiry beyond that of statutory construction,"
post,
at 276 (opinion of STEVENS, J.). Although it is unclear to me
whether the dissent is correct on this score, I hope that state and
federal courts so interpret the majority opinion. For even if the
majority opinion does not preclude venturing beyond the face of the
statute,
Hudson certainly does. See
Hudson, 522 U.
S., at 101 (holding that courts must examine a statute" 'on its
face'" and may not consider the" 'actual sanctions imposed' ");
supra, at 272.
To dispel any suggestion to the contrary,
ante, at
261-262, 263, 266 (majority opinion);
post, at 275 (STEVENS,
J., dissenting), I note that
Kansas v.
Hendricks,
521 U. S. 346
(1997), does not provide support for implementation-based
challenges. In
Hendricks, "none of the parties argue[d] that
people institutionalized under the ... civil commitment statute are
subject to punitive conditions."
Id., at 363. The viability
of an implementation-based challenge was simply not at issue. And
significantly, six months after
Hendricks, we held in
Hudson that inquiries into whether a statute is civil are
restricted to the "face" of the statute.
Hudson, supra, at
101. To the extent that
Hendricks (or any previous opinion,
ante, at 266 (majority opinion)) left a door open by not
answering the implementation question,
Hudson closed that
door.
275
dating Kansas' Sexually Violent Predator Act);
Allen v.
Illinois, 478
U. S. 364 (1986) (upholding, by a 5-to-4 vote, Illinois'
Sexually Dangerous Persons Act);
In re Young, 122 Wash. 2d
1, 857 P. 2d 989 (1993) (en banc) (upholding, by a 5-to-4 vote, the
provisions of Washington's Community Protection Act of 1990 dealing
with sexually violent predators).
It is settled, however, that the question whether a state
statute is civil or criminal in nature for purposes of complying
with the demands of the Federal Constitution is a question of
federal law. If a detainee comes forward with "'the clearest proof'
that 'the statutory scheme [is] so punitive either in purpose
or
effect as to negate [the State's] intention' that the
proceeding be civil, it must be considered criminal."
Allen,
478 U. S., at 369 (quoting
United States v.
Ward,
448 U. S. 242,
248-249 (1980)) (emphasis added). See also
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93, 100, 105
(1997). Accordingly, we have consistently looked to the conditions
of confinement as evidence of both the legislative purpose behind
the statute and its actual effect. See
Hendricks, 521 U. S.,
at 361, 367-369;
Schall v.
Martin, 467 U. S. 253, 269271
(1984);
Allen, 478 U. S., at 369, 373-374. As we have
acknowledged in those cases, the question whether a statute is in
fact punitive cannot always be answered solely by reference to the
text of the statute.
The majority in this case, however, incorrectly assumes that the
Act at issue is necessarily civil. The issue the majority purports
to resolve is whether an Act that is otherwise civil in nature can
be deemed criminal in a specific instance based on evidence of its
application to a particular prisoner. However, respondent Young's
petition did not present that issue. Rather, consistent with our
case law, Young sought to introduce evidence of the conditions of
confinement as evidence of the punitive purpose and effect of the
Washington statute. See Amended Pet. for Writ of Habeas Corpus 6
and Supp. Brief on Remand 2, 6, 10-11, in No.
C94-480C (WD
Wash.), Record, Doc. Nos. 57, 155. As a result, Young in no
276
way runs afoul of
Hudson v.
United States,
522 U. S. 93
(1997). Properly read,
Hudson acknowledges that resolving
whether an Act is civil or criminal in nature can take into account
whether the statutory scheme has a punitive effecU
Id., at
99. What
Hudson rejects is an approach
not taken by
respondent-one that bypasses this threshold question in favor of a
dispositive focus on the sanction actually imposed on the specific
individual.2
Id., at 101-102.
To be sure, the question whether an Act is civil or punitive in
nature "is initially one of statutory construction."
Ante,
at 261 (majority opinion). However, under the majority's analysis,
there is no inquiry beyond that of statutory construction.
Ante, at 263. In essence, the majority argues that because
the constitutional query must be answered definitively and because
confinement is not a "fixed event," conditions of confinement
should not be considered at all, except in the first challenge to a
statute, when, as a practical matter,
1 In his concurrence, JUSTICE SCALIA concludes that, under the
rule of
Hudson v.
United States, 522 U. S. 93 (1997),
courts may
never look to actual conditions of confinement
and implementation of the statute to determine in the first
instance whether a confinement scheme is civil in nature. See
ante, at 267-268. JUSTICE THOMAS, concurring in the
judgment, would take
Hudson even further, precluding
implementation-based challenges "at any time."
Ante, at 273.
However, for the reasons set out above, I believe that both
concurrences misread
Hudson. I also note that
Hudson
did not involve confinement. In cases that do involve confinement,
this Court has relied on the principle that a statutory scheme must
be deemed criminal if it was sufficiently punitive "'either in
purpose or effect.''' See
Kansas v.
Hendricks,
521 U. S. 346,
361, 367-369 (1997);
Schall v.
Martin, 467 U. S. 253,269-271
(1984);
Allen v.
Illinois, 478 U. S. 364, 369,
373-374 (1986).
2 In response to my dissent, the Court has made it clear that it
is simply holding that respondent may not prevail if he merely
proves that the statute is punitive insofar as it has been applied
to him. The question whether he may prevail if he can prove that
the statute is punitive in its application to everyone confined
under its provisions therefore remains open. In sum, the Court has
rejected the narrow holding of the Ninth Circuit, but has not
addressed the sufficiency of the broadest claim that petitioner has
advanced.
277
the evidence of such conditions is most likely not to constitute
the requisite "clearest proof." This seems to me quite wrong. If
conditions of confinement are such that a detainee has been
punished twice in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause, it is
irrelevant that the scheme has been previously labeled as civil
without full knowledge of the effects of the statute.3
In this case, Young has made detailed allegations concerning
both the absence of treatment for his alleged mental illness and
the starkly punitive character of the conditions of his
confinement. If proved, those allegations establish not just that
those detained pursuant to the statute are treated like those
imprisoned for violations of Washington's criminal laws, but that,
in many respects, they receive significantly worse treatment.4 If
those allegations are correct, the statute in question should be
characterized as a criminal law for federal constitutional
purposes. I therefore agree with the Court of Appeals' conclusion
that respondent should be given the opportunity to come forward
with the "clearest proof" that his allegations are true.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
3 In this case, those detained pursuant to Washington's statute
have sought an improvement in conditions for almost seven years.
Their success in the courts, however, has had little practical
impact.
4 Under such conditions, Young has now served longer in prison
following the completion of his sentence than he did on the
sentence itself.
Comments
Be the first to comment
Leave a Comment