Cite as: 504 U. S. 71 (1992)
Thomas, J., dissenting
restraint" that triggers strict scrutiny of their confinement. Neither Foucha nor the Court provides any evidence that our society has ever recognized any such right. To the contrary, historical evidence shows that many States have long provided for the continued institutionalization of insanity acquittees who remain dangerous. See, e. g., H. Weihofen, Insanity as a Defense in Criminal Law 294-332 (1933); A. Goldstein, The Insanity Defense 148-149 (1967).
Moreover, this Court has never applied strict scrutiny to the substance of state laws involving involuntary confinement of the mentally ill, much less to laws involving the confinement of insanity acquittees. To the contrary, until today we have subjected the substance of such laws only to very deferential review. Thus, in Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U. S. 715, 738 (1972), we held that Indiana's provisions for the indefinite institutionalization of incompetent defendants violated substantive due process because they did not bear any "reasonable" relation to the purpose for which the defendant was committed. Similarly, in O'Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U. S. 563 (1975), we held that the confinement of a nondangerous mentally ill person was unconstitutional not because the State failed to show a compelling interest and narrow tailoring, but because the State had no legitimate interest whatsoever to justify such confinement. See id., at 575-576. See also id., at 580 (Burger, C. J., concurring) ("Commitment must be justified on the basis of a legitimate state interest, and the reasons for committing a particular individual must be established in an appropriate proceeding. Equally important, confinement must cease when those reasons no longer exist" (emphasis added)).
Similarly, in Jones, we held (in addition to the procedural due process holdings described above) that there was no substantive due process bar to holding an insanity acquittee beyond the period for which he could have been incarcerated if convicted. We began by explaining the standard for our analysis: "The Due Process Clause 'requires that the nature
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