In the case of Jones v. United States in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled on whether a defendant could be involuntarily committed to a mental institution without proof beyond reasonable doubt that he was mentally ill and dangerous. The court held that clear and convincing evidence was sufficient for civil commitment following an insanity acquittal. This decision came after Jones had been acquitted by reason of insanity for petty larceny charges but remained institutionalized longer than his maximum sentence would have been due to his perceived ongoing danger to society as determined by hospital staff reviews rather than judicial hearings. He argued this violated his constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause, however, the court disagreed stating that different standards apply in criminal trials compared with civil commitments.

In the dissenting opinion for Jones v. United States, Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Marshall and Blackmun, argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings regarding Fourth Amendment rights. They contended that a person should not have to demonstrate an ownership or leasehold interest in a property to challenge its search on Fourth Amendment grounds. Instead, they believed any individual legitimately present at a location has standing to object if their personal privacy is invaded unlawfully. The dissenters also criticized the majority's reliance on Rakas v Illinois as precedent because it did not address situations where individuals are invited onto premises but do not own or control them. Furthermore, they disagreed with the notion of requiring defendants to incriminate themselves by asserting proprietary interests in seized items during pretrial suppression hearings - this contradicts Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination according to them.