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Full-Text Articles in Law
Hall V. Florida: The Supreme Court's Guidance In Implementing Atkins, James W. Ellis
Hall V. Florida: The Supreme Court's Guidance In Implementing Atkins, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
In Atkins v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that criminal defendants with mental retardation could not be sentenced to death or be executed because such an execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and therefore was prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. A dozen years later, in Hall v. Florida, the Court has reiterated the constitutional holding of Atkins and has given the states guidance on its implementation. The Court held that Florida could not impose an arbitrary IQ score limitation on the right of capital defendants to seek relief under Atkins. While the holding in Hall was relatively narrow, …
Disability Advocacy And Atkins, James W. Ellis
Disability Advocacy And Atkins, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
This Article examines the correlation between the Court's perception and its resolution of the constitutional issues, most dramatically exhibited in Atkins. Part II of this Article briefly examines the history of discrimination against persons with mental retardation. Part III of this Article traces the history of the Court's decisions involving persons with mental retardation, giving special attention to the way in which the Justices' opinions reveal their apparent understanding of mental retardation and the relationship between individuals who have the disability and the law.5 Finally, Part IV addresses the Atkins opinion itself, with emphasis on the Court's understanding of mental …
Mental Retardation And The Death Penalty: A Guide To State Legislative Issues, James W. Ellis
Mental Retardation And The Death Penalty: A Guide To State Legislative Issues, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
The interest in State Legislatures in the topic of mental retardation and the death penalty has obviously heightened with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia.' The purpose of this document is to provide legislators and advocates with guidance in implementing the Atkins decision, so that each State's death penalty legislation is in full compliance with constitutional requirements.
Some Observations On The Juvenile Commitment Cases: Reconceptualizing What The Child Has At Stake, James W. Ellis
Some Observations On The Juvenile Commitment Cases: Reconceptualizing What The Child Has At Stake, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
These remarks will focus on the constitutional issues surrounding the treatment and habilitation of children with mental disabilities. I believe that we need to rethink the premises on which we construct our analysis of these problems, and it will surprise few in this audience that I conclude the Supreme Court of the United States did not get it precisely right.
Decisions By And For People With Mental Retardation: Balancing Considerations Of Autonomy And Protection, James W. Ellis
Decisions By And For People With Mental Retardation: Balancing Considerations Of Autonomy And Protection, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
This Article will attempt to analyze some of the considerations that should inform enlightened and compassionate public policy in this area. Section I will describe briefly the definition of mental retardation and common attributes of people who have the disability and the social and political world in which they live within our society. Section II will sketch some of the contexts in which legal issues about decision-making arise in the lives of people with mental retardation. Section III will discuss the generic legal doctrines of consent which form the backdrop for legal analysis of these problems, with particular attention to …
Limits On The State's Power To Confine 'Dangerous' Persons: Constitutional Implications Of Foucha V. Louisiana, James W. Ellis
Limits On The State's Power To Confine 'Dangerous' Persons: Constitutional Implications Of Foucha V. Louisiana, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
This Article does not attempt a complete analysis of all the constitutional implications of Foucha,nor does it attempt to provide a definitive answer to the question of the constitutionality of Washington's sexual predator statute. Rather, because Foucha addressed important due process and equal protection questions relevant to the Washington statute, the Article is an attempt to analyze the case's basic constitutional holdings and discussion on the issue of state deprivation of physical liberty.
Chronicling A Movement For Civil Rights, James W. Ellis
Chronicling A Movement For Civil Rights, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
Review of the book, The Mentally Disabled and the Law, by Jan Brakel Samuel, John Pary, and Barbara A. Weiner.
If Your Client Is Mentally Retarded, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
If Your Client Is Mentally Retarded, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
Faculty Scholarship
Introduction to defending clients who hae cognitive disabilites.
On The 'Usefulness' Of Suspect Classifications, James W. Ellis
On The 'Usefulness' Of Suspect Classifications, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
Reviewing discrimination in legal decisions.
The Consequences Of The Insanity Defense: Proposals To Reform Post-Acquittal Commitment Laws, James W. Ellis
The Consequences Of The Insanity Defense: Proposals To Reform Post-Acquittal Commitment Laws, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
There are sound public policy reasons for considering a reform of state laws concerning commitment of insanity acquittees. A balanced system of special commitment can protect the public safety and, at the same time, give acquittees a fair hearing on their current mental condition and continuing need for confinement. Special commitment can also insulate general commitment laws from political pressures that can arise from the prospect of the possible release of notorious insanity acquittees. Several of the recently proposed model reforms, however, have features that commend them to the attention of state legislators. The Oregon model of using a Psychiatric …
Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
Faculty Scholarship
This Article attempts to provide a preliminary overview of the issues in the Mental Health Standards as they relate to defendants with mental retardation. Part I reviews the history of the treatment of retarded defendants in the criminal justice system. Part II describes the characteristics of people with mental retardation and the consequences of those characteristics. Part III then discusses the extent to which mental retardation should be exculpatory of criminal responsibility. Part IV analyzes the critical importance of competence issues to mentally retarded defendants. Part V elaborates upon dispositional issues including civil commitment and sentencing. Parts VI and VII …
Representing Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Persons, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
Representing Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Persons, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson
Faculty Scholarship
The following article explores the need for increased legal advocacy for mentally retarded persons. Contrasting the services available to the mentally ill with the limited resources for the mentally retarded, the authors highlight the unique problems of this underrepresented population, and examine alternative forums for advocacy. In a practical, straightforward analysis, the article identifies barriers to effective representation, including the fundamental problem of lawyers' and advocates' reactions to institutionalized retarded persons' appearance and behavior, and the effect of these reactions on advocacy efforts. The article is followed by a client interview form and guide that focus on the special problems …
Tort Responsibility Of Mentally Disabled Persons, James W. Ellis
Tort Responsibility Of Mentally Disabled Persons, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
The standard of care to be applied in tort cases involving mentally disabled people has not been reconsidered in recent years. Traditional rationales for the "objective" standard are less persuasive in the context of current legal approaches to the rights of mentally ill and retarded persons. Analogies to children (especially the concept of "mental age") and to physically handicapped adults merit reexamination. The objective standard of care for mentally disabled defendants was an outgrowth of the ideology of confinement-an ideology that society has since abandoned. Adoption of a subjective standard would not right a vast number of grave injustices, nor …
The Liberty Interest Of Children: Due Process Rights And Their Application, James W. Ellis, Lee E. Teitelbaum
The Liberty Interest Of Children: Due Process Rights And Their Application, James W. Ellis, Lee E. Teitelbaum
Faculty Scholarship
Few areas pose more difficult problems in the application of due process doctrine than does regulation of parent-child relationships. Determination of the procedural requirements for intervention by the state in the lives of children, at the request or with the agreement of parents, presents novel and troublesome constitutional questions. Special problems arise in the definition of the liberty interests of minors and in determining how much process is due given an infringement of those interests. These problems cannot be resolved by resort to the categorical assumptions of either traditional theory or "children's liberation." Close examination of the interests held by …
Volunteering Children: Parental Commitment Of Minors To Mental Institutions, James W. Ellis
Volunteering Children: Parental Commitment Of Minors To Mental Institutions, James W. Ellis
Faculty Scholarship
In most states,' parents may commit their children to mental institutions without a hearing or any other form of judicial scrutiny. If a parent wants a child committed, and a hospital will accept the child as a patient, no legal authority will hear the child's protest. Moreover, the child-patient has no standing to petition for release from the institution until he or she reaches the statutory age of majority. Until that time any request for discharge must be made by the parent. Thus, the minor admitted to a mental hospital on application of a parent is denied access to virtually …