| Jones v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued November 2, 1982 Decided June 29, 1983 | |
| Full case name | Michael Jones v. United States |
| Citations | 463 U.S. 354 (more) 103 S. Ct. 3043; 77 L. Ed. 2d 694 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 432 A.2d 364 (D.C. 1981); cert. granted, 454 U.S. 1141 (1982). |
| Holding | |
| A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is sufficiently probative of mental illness and dangerousness to justify commitment of the acquittee for the purposes of treatment and the protection of society. Such a verdict establishes that the defendant committed an act constituting a criminal offense, and that he committed the act because of mental illness. Indefinite commitment of an insanity acquittee, based on proof of insanity by only a preponderance of the evidence, comports with due process. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Powell, joined by Burger, White, Rehnquist, O'Connor |
| Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun |
| Dissent | Stevens |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV | |
Jones v. United States, 463 U.S. 354 (1983), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the court, for the first time, addressed whether the due process requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment allows defendants, who were found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) of a misdemeanor crime, to be involuntarily confined to a mental institution until such times as they are no longer a danger to themselves or others with few other criteria or procedures limiting the actions of the state.[1]