Williams Welcomes Distinguished Group of Presiding Judges to Moot Court Argument
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams College Department of Political Science will hold a United States Supreme Court moot court argument on Wednesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Griffin Hall, room 3. The public is cordially invited to attend.The moot court will examine an issue currently pending before the United States Supreme Court:
Whether Congress had the constitutional authority to enact 18 U.S.C. 4248, which authorizes court-ordered civil commitment by the federal government of (1) "sexually dangerous" persons who are already in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, but who are coming to the end of their federal prison sentences, (2) "sexually dangerous" persons who are in the custody of the Attorney General because they have been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Whether Due Process mandates the application of the reasonable doubt burden of proof in a civil proceeding to determine past criminal activity.
Whether due process is satisfied by civil commitment procedures that require the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that an individual is a sexually dangerous person.
In July 2006, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act into law.
A component of the Act, codified as 18 U.S.C section 4248, authorizes the federal government to seek indefinite commitment for those in Bureau of Prisons (hereinafter BOP) custody deemed to be "Sexually dangerous Persons."
On September 23, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals Forth Circuit ruled that 18 U.S.C. section 4248 was beyond the scope of Congress's authority.
The U.S. Constitution did not empower the federal government to confine a person solely because of asserted sexual dangerousness. Currently, more than 50 criminal defendants who have completed their term of imprisonment are held pursuant to this statute. The case is now pending before the United States Supreme Court.
The moot court will involve undergraduates in Williams College's Constitutional Law and Judicial Politics courses taught by Bernard Moore, visiting lecturer in political science.
Students will argue before a simulated Supreme Court, over which guest judges will preside.
Presiding judges include:
Hon. Jeffrey R. Howard, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Hon. William K. Sessions, III, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont and Vice-Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Hon. Consuelo Marshall, Chief Judge Emeritus of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and Hon. Victor Marrero, District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Assisting will be attorney David K. Kirby, a former U.S. attorney, District of Vermont, and former law clerk to the Hon. John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice; and attorney Barbara O'Connor, former supervisory asst. federal public defender in California and Vermont.
