Seling v. Young

Seling v. Young
Argued October 31, 2000
Decided January 17, 2001
Full case nameMark Seling, Superintendent, Special Commitment Center, Petitioner v. Andre Brigham Young
Citations531 U.S. 250 (more)
121 S. Ct. 727; 148 L. Ed. 2d 734
Case history
PriorConviction and commitment affirmed sub. nom. In re: Young 122 Wn.2d 1, 857 P.2d 989 (1993); writ of certiorary granted sub. nom. Young v. Weston, 898 F. Supp. 744 (W.D. Wash. (1995); remanded in light of Kansas v. Hendricks, 122 F.3d 38 (9th Cir. 1997); petition denied, n° CV-94-00480C (W.D. Wash. February 10, 1998); reversed and remanded in part, 176 F.3d 1196 (9th Cir. 1999); order amended and rehearing denied, 192 F.3d 870 (9th Cir. 1999); certiorari granted, 529 U.S. 1017 (2000)
Holding
An "as-applied" challenge to a civil commitment statute on the grounds that it is punitive does not change the civil nature of the detention; there is no violation of Double Jeopardy. Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
MajorityO'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
ConcurrenceScalia, joined by Souter
ConcurrenceThomas
DissentStevens
Laws applied
Double Jeopardy Clause

Seling v. Young, 531 U.S. 250 (2001), was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 2001. The case concerned a challenge to a civil commitment statute for sexual predators in Washington state. The petitioner tried to differentiate this case from previous ones before the Supreme Court which upheld civil commitment statutes. The Court rejected the challenge to the law over the objection of a single Justice.