The Supreme Court enlarged the Necessary and Proper clause of the Constitution just a little bit today:

Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said Congress’ ability to control the release of dangerous prisoners stems from its broad power under the Constitution to enact laws governing prisons. He added that Congress has long been involved in mental health care for federal prisoners, including their civil commitment. Most broadly, the court said the power to confine inmates whose sentences have ended arises from Congress’ authority in the Constitution to make laws “necessary and proper” to carry out its powers.

N&P is one of the refuges that defenders of health care reform will take when the Constitutional challenges to its legality are heard. There are important differences because of the carrot ‘n’ stick approach Congress used to force the purchase of health care may not pass muster, but the overall program could be justified in a similar manner to these civil confinements…

This entry was posted on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 1:17 pm and is filed under The Political Mindscape. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.