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2013

United States Supreme Court

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The Costs Of Delay: Incompetent Criminal Defendants, Involuntary Antipsychotic Medications, And The Question Of Who Decides, Dora W. Klein Jan 2013

The Costs Of Delay: Incompetent Criminal Defendants, Involuntary Antipsychotic Medications, And The Question Of Who Decides, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

Whether an incompetent pretrial detainee is entitled to a judicial hearing before he may be administered involuntary antipsychotic medication is a matter of contention. The question of the constitutionality, with regard to the Due Process clause, of involuntary medication to diminish a detainee’s dangerousness is one that arises at the intersection of two United States Supreme Court cases, Washington v. Harper and Sell v. United States.

In Harper, the Court ruled that a convicted prisoner is not entitled to a judicial hearing before he may be administered involuntary antipsychotic medications when the medications are necessary to diminish the prisoner’s dangerousness …