Law Commons^™

"Everybody Is Making Love Or Else Expecting Rain": Considering The Sexual Autonomy Rights Of Persons Institutionalized Because Of Mental Disability In Forensic Hospitals And In Asia, Michael L. Perlin

Washington Law Review

One of the most controversial policy questions in all of institutional mental disability law is the extent to which patients in psychiatric hospitals have a right to voluntary sexual interaction. The resolution of this matter involves difficult and sensitive questions of law, social policy, clinical judgment, politics, religion, and family structures. As difficult as these questions are in cases involving civil hospitals, the difficulties are exacerbated when the topic is the application of the right in forensic hospitals. Such facilities typically house individuals involved in the criminal-justice system: who may be incompetent to stand trial; who have been found incompetent …