Cite as: 538 U. S. 510 (2003)
Opinion of Souter, J.
only for confinement of "a limited subclass of dangerous persons" who had committed " 'a sexually violent offense' " and who suffered from " 'a mental abnormality or personality disorder' " portending " 'predatory acts of sexual violence,' " id., at 357 (quoting Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-29a02(a) (1994)). Salerno relied on the restriction of detention "by the stringent time limitations of the Speedy Trial Act," 481 U. S., at 747, whereas in Foucha, it was a fault that the statute did not impose any comparable limitation, 504 U. S., at 82 (citing Salerno). See also Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U. S. 715, 738 (1972) ("At the least, due process requires that the nature and duration of commitment bear some reasonable relation to the purpose for which the individual is committed").
The substantive demands of due process necessarily go hand in hand with the procedural, and the cases insist at the least on an opportunity for a detainee to challenge the reason claimed for committing him. E. g., Hendricks, supra, at 357 (stating that civil commitment was permitted where "the confinement takes place pursuant to proper procedures and evidentiary standards"); Foucha, supra, at 81-82 (invalidating a statute under which "the State need prove nothing to justify continued detention"); Salerno, supra, at 751 ("[T]he procedures by which a judicial officer evaluates the likelihood of future dangerousness are specifically designed to further the accuracy of that determination"); Addington, supra, at 427 (requiring a heightened burden of proof "to impress the factfinder with the importance of the decision and thereby perhaps to reduce the chances that inappropriate commitments will be ordered").
These cases yield a simple distillate that should govern the result here. Due process calls for an individual determination before someone is locked away. In none of the cases cited did we ever suggest that the government could avoid the Due Process Clause by doing what § 1226(c) does, by selecting a class of people for confinement on a categorical basis and denying members of that class any chance to dispute the
551
Page: Index Previous 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007