Events

United States v. Comstock is the first case that the Roberts Court will decide concerning the scope of Congress's powers in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The primary issue in the case concerns the federal government's practice of keeping convicted sex offenders in federal prisons after they have completed their sentences on the ground that they remain sexually dangerous. The question presented is not whether this practice violates any individual constitutional rights of sex offenders, but whether the practice falls within Congress's enumerated powers. Judges: Dean David F. Levi and Professors Donald B. Ayer, Sara S. Beale, Neil S. Siegel, and Ernest A. Young. Counsel for respondents: G. Alan DuBois. Attendance limited to Duke Law students, faculty, and staff. Sponsored by the Program in Public Law. For more information, contact Dana Norvell at norvell@law.duke.edu.