United States v. Sabil Mujahid

Sexual assault by and against prison inmates is a distressing and pernicious problem. In this case, we decide whether the Constitution gives Congress the power to address it by criminalizing sexual assaults in facilities where federal inmates are held by agreement with state and local governments. We also decide whether the existence of such an agreement is a question of law that may be decided by the trial court. Our answer to both questions is “yes.”

BACKGROUND

On March 5, 2009, Sabil Mumin Mujahid was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska after officers found a firearm in the trunk of a car he had driven to the Nesbett Courthouse for a bail hearing on a pending state drug charge. Mujahid was taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, which provides housing for state prisoners as well as federal prisoners pursuant to a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.

The day after his arrest, Mujahid was charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The federal court ordered him detained pending trial, and thereafter the state court revoked his bail on the drug charge. In June 2009, a jury convicted Mujahid on the federal…