Cite as: 504 U. S. 71 (1992)
Kennedy, J., dissenting
sonable doubt, that the defendant had committed the crimes charged. Id., at 363-364, and n. 12. In cases of acquittal by reason of insanity, District law provided for automatic commitment followed by periodic hearings, where the insanity acquittee was given the opportunity to prove that he was no longer insane or dangerous. Id., at 357-358, and n. 3. Petitioner in Jones contended that Addington and O'Connor applied to criminal proceedings as well as civil, requiring the Government to prove insanity and dangerousness by clear and convincing evidence before commitment. We rejected that contention. In Jones we distinguished criminal from civil commitment, holding that the Due Process Clause permits automatic incarceration after a criminal adjudication and without further process. Id., at 366. The majority today in effect overrules that holding. It holds that "keeping Foucha against his will in a mental institution is improper absent a determination in civil commitment proceedings of current mental illness and dangerousness." Ante, at 78; see also ante, at 80, 85-86. Our holding in Jones was clear and to the contrary. We should not so disregard controlling precedent.
Our respect for the Court's opinion in Jones should be informed by the recognition that its distinction between civil and criminal commitment is both sound and consistent with long-established precedent. First, as described above, the procedural protections afforded in a criminal commitment surpass those in a civil commitment; indeed, these procedural protections are the most stringent known to our law. Second, proof of criminal conduct in accordance with In re Winship eliminates the risk of incarceration "for mere 'idiosyncratic behavior,' [because a] criminal act by definition is not 'within a range of conduct that is generally acceptable.' " Jones, supra, at 367, quoting Addington, supra, at 426-427. The criminal law defines a discrete category of conduct for which society has reserved its greatest opprobrium and strictest sanctions; past or future dangerousness, as ascer-
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