Jones v. United States
Case Date: 05/06/1983
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A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is sufficiently probative of mental illness and dangerousness to justify commitment of the acquittee for the purposes of treatment and the protection of society. Such a verdict establishes that the defendant committed an act constituting a criminal offense, and that he committed the act because of mental illness.
Indefinite commitment of an insanity acquittee, based on proof of insanity by only a preponderance of the evidence, comports with due process.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Associate Justices
Case opinions
Majority
Powell, joined by Burger, White, Rehnquist, O'Connor
Dissent
Brennan, joined by Marshall, Blackmun
Dissent
Stevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV
Jones v. United States, 463 U.S. 354 (1983) is a United States Supreme Court case in which the court, for the first time, addressed whether the United States Constitution allows a defendant, who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) of a misdemeanor crime, to be involuntarily confined to a mental institution until such time as he is no longer a danger to himself or others with few other criteria or procedures limiting the actions of the state.[1]
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