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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Some Things Are Too Hot To Touch: Competency, The Right To Sexual Autonomy, And The Roles Of Lawyers And Expert Witnesses, Michael L. Perlin, Alison Lynch, Valerie R. Mcclain Jan 2019

Some Things Are Too Hot To Touch: Competency, The Right To Sexual Autonomy, And The Roles Of Lawyers And Expert Witnesses, Michael L. Perlin, Alison Lynch, Valerie R. Mcclain

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.


Infinity Goes On Trial: Sanism, Pretextuality, And The Representation Of Defendants With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin Jan 2016

Infinity Goes On Trial: Sanism, Pretextuality, And The Representation Of Defendants With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

This paper, presented to the mid-winter meeting of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Austin, TX, 2/18/16), explains why it is essential for lawyers representing criminal defendants with mental disabilities to understand the meanings and contexts of sanism - a largely invisible and largely socially acceptable irrational prejudice of the same quality and character of other irrational prejudices that cause (and are reflected in) prevailing social attitudes of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ethnic bigotry - and pretextuality - the means by which courts regularly accept (either implicitly or explicitly) testimonial dishonesty, countenance liberty deprivations in disingenuous ways that bear …


"Mr. Bad Example": Why Lawyers Need To Embrace Therapeutic Jurisprudence To Root Out Sanism In The Representation Of Persons With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin Jan 2016

"Mr. Bad Example": Why Lawyers Need To Embrace Therapeutic Jurisprudence To Root Out Sanism In The Representation Of Persons With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

Litigants with mental disabilities are taken less seriously by their own lawyers, trivialized by opposing counsel, and disparaged by judges. This is largely a result of “sanism,” an irrational prejudice of the same quality and character of other irrational prejudices such as racism, sexism or homophobia. Recognizing and combatting sanism creates extra burdens on lawyers who do seek to provide effective counsel for this population. Such lawyers need special tools to combat sanism, and we believe that lawyering skills rooted in therapeutic jurisprudence provide the best foundation through which to create a positive psychology of persuasion in this representation. Our …


Had To Be Held Down By Big Police: A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective On Interactions Between Police And Persons With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin, Alison Lynch Jan 2016

Had To Be Held Down By Big Police: A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective On Interactions Between Police And Persons With Mental Disabilities, Michael L. Perlin, Alison Lynch

Articles & Chapters

It is a truism that the largest mental health facilities in the nation are the nation’s largest urban jails. Most of the predictable solutions that are offered to curb the influx of individuals with mental illness into jails -- especially those that urge the loosening of civil commitment standards and the return to large psychiatric institutions -- are dreary at best, unconstitutional at heart, and mean-spirited at worst. However, we pay remarkably little attention to one of the primary causes of this reality: the decisionmaking processes "on the street" by police officers who choose to apprehend and arrest certain cohorts …


I Expected It To Happen/I Knew He'd Lost Control: The Impact Of Ptsd On Criminal Sentencing After The Promulgation Of Dsm-5, Michael L. Perlin Jan 2015

I Expected It To Happen/I Knew He'd Lost Control: The Impact Of Ptsd On Criminal Sentencing After The Promulgation Of Dsm-5, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

The adoption by the American Psychiatric Association of DSM-5 significantly changes (and in material ways, expands) the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a change that raises multiple questions that need to be considered carefully by lawyers, mental health professionals, advocates and policy makers.

My thesis is that the expansion of the PTSD criteria in DSM-5 has the potential to make significant changes in legal practice in all aspects of criminal procedure, but none more so than in criminal sentencing. I believe that if courts treat DSM 5 with the same deference with which they have treated earlier versions of …


Too Stubborn To Ever Be Governed By Enforced Insanity: Some Therapeutic Jurisprudence Dilemmas In The Representation Of Criminal Defendants In Incompetency And Insanity Cases, Michael L. Perlin Jan 2010

Too Stubborn To Ever Be Governed By Enforced Insanity: Some Therapeutic Jurisprudence Dilemmas In The Representation Of Criminal Defendants In Incompetency And Insanity Cases, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

Little attention has been paid to the importance between therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) and the role ofcriminal defense lawyers in insanity and incompetency-to-stand-trial (IST) cases. That inattention is especially noteworthy in light of the dismal track record of counsel providing services to defendants who are part of this cohort of incompetency-status-raisers and insanity-defense-pleaders. On one hand, this lack of attention is a surprise as TJ scholars have, in recent years, turned their attention to virtually every other aspect of the legal system. On the other hand, it is not a surprise, given the omnipresence of sanism, an irrational prejudice ofthe same …


Half-Wracked Prejudice Leaped Forth: Sanism, Pretextuality, And Why And How Mental Disability Law Developed As It Did, Michael L. Perlin Jan 1999

Half-Wracked Prejudice Leaped Forth: Sanism, Pretextuality, And Why And How Mental Disability Law Developed As It Did, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

Mental disability law jurisprudence is often incoherent Much of its incoherence can be explained by two concepts that dominate this area of the law: sanism (the irrational prejudices that cause, and are reflected in, prevailing social attitudes toward mentally disabled persons, and those so perceived) and pretextuality (the courts' acceptance -- either implicit or explicit -- of testimonial dishonesty and their decisions to engage in dishonest decisionmaking in mental disability law cases). Mental disability law is frequently premised on stereotypes and on prejudice, on typification and fear. These distortions reflect sanism; cases that sanction the use of such stereotypes and …


"Half-Wracked Prejudice Leaped Forth:" Sanism, Pretextuality, And Why And How Mental Disability Law Developed As It Did, Michael L. Perlin Jan 1999

"Half-Wracked Prejudice Leaped Forth:" Sanism, Pretextuality, And Why And How Mental Disability Law Developed As It Did, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

Mental disability law jurisprudence is often incoherent Much of its incoherence can be explained by two concepts that dominate this area of the law: sanism (the irrational prejudices that cause, and are reflected in, prevailing social attitudes toward mentally disabled persons, and those so perceived) and pretextuality (the courts' acceptance -- either implicit or explicit -- of testimonial dishonesty and their decisions to engage in dishonest decisionmaking in mental disability law cases). Mental disability law is frequently premised on stereotypes and on prejudice, on typification and fear. These distortions reflect sanism; cases that sanction the use of such stereotypes and …


The Sanist Lives Of Jurors In Death Penalty Cases: The Puzzling Role Of Mitigating Mental Disability Evidence, Michael L. Perlin Jan 1994

The Sanist Lives Of Jurors In Death Penalty Cases: The Puzzling Role Of Mitigating Mental Disability Evidence, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.