Cite as: 531 U. S. 250 (2001)
Syllabus
the principle that determining the civil or punitive nature of an Act must begin with reference to its text and legislative history. See 521 U. S., at 360-369. Subsequently, the Court expressly disapproved of evaluating an Act's civil nature by reference to its effect on a single individual, holding, instead, that courts must focus on a variety of factors considered in relation to the statute on its face, and that the clearest proof is required to override legislative intent and conclude that an Act denominated civil is punitive in purpose or effect. Hudson v. United States, 522 U. S. 93, 100. With this in mind, the Ninth Circuit's "as-applied" analysis for double jeopardy and ex post facto claims must be rejected as fundamentally flawed. This Court does not deny the seriousness of some of respondent's allegations. Nor does the Court express any view as to how his allegations would bear on a court determining in the first instance whether Washington's confinement scheme is civil. Here, however, the Court evaluates respondent's allegations under the assumption that the Act is civil, as the Washington Supreme Court held and the Ninth Circuit acknowledged. The Court agrees with petitioner that an "as-applied" analysis would prove unworkable. Such an analysis would never conclusively resolve whether a particular scheme is punitive and would thereby prevent a final determination of the scheme's validity under the Double Jeopardy and Ex Post Facto Clauses. Confinement is not a fixed event, but extends over time under conditions that are subject to change. The particular features of confinement may affect how a confinement scheme is evaluated to determine whether it is civil or punitive, but it remains no less true that the query must be answered definitively. A confinement scheme's civil nature cannot be altered based merely on vagaries in the authorizing statute's implementation. The Ninth Circuit's "as-applied" analysis does not comport with precedents in which this Court evaluated the validity of confinement schemes. See, e. g., Allen v. Illinois, 478 U. S. 364, 373-374. Such cases presented the question whether the Act at issue was punitive, whereas permitting respondent's as-applied challenge would invite an end run around the Washington Supreme Court's decision that the Act is civil when that decision is not before this Court. Pp. 260-265.
(b) Today's decision does not mean that respondent and others committed as sexually violent predators have no remedy for the alleged conditions and treatment regime at the Center. The Act gives them the right to adequate care and individualized treatment. It is for the Washington courts to determine whether the Center is operating in accordance with state law and provide a remedy. Those courts also remain competent to adjudicate and remedy challenges to civil confinement schemes arising under the Federal Constitution. Because the
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