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A New Twist In The War On Drugs: The Constitutional Right Of A Mentally Ill Criminal Defendant To Refuse Antipsychotic Medication That Would Make Him Competent To Stand Trial, Brian Domb

Journal of Law and Health

The purpose of this Note is to analyze what right, if any exists for a mentally ill criminal defendant to refuse the administration of antipsychotic drugs to gain competence to stand trial. Focusing mainly on the trial context of the right to refuse is not to suggest that there is not overlap between the right of a criminal defendant to refuse and the right of a civilly committed patient to refuse. Indeed, it is often unclear why an individual is brought to the emergency room of a general hospital and eventually committed, rather than being arrested and booked and later …