In its recent decision in the case of U.S. v. Comstock, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal statute allowing the indefinite detention of those the statute refers to as sexually dangerous predators.

The criminal justice system has not been working; at least, it is not working for all people in all circumstances. The system is strained by repeat offenders who recycle through the system, as some have come to believe, due to unique issues that have not been addressed.

Our criminal justice system obeys the law of unintended consequences. Eventually, all of our policy decisions have consequences, and some of those come back to haunt us. We can see this in the aftermath of the crackdown on crime in this country.

Under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a person accused of a crime has the right "to be confronted with the witnesses against him." However, the particular contours of this right have shifted with time.

Forensic evidence is fundamental to the foundation of much of the U.S. criminal justice system. Scientific analysis of physical evidence of crime has produced evidence that has put many citizens behind bars, and exonerated others.