Law and Psychology Commons^™

Uncovering "Nondiscernible" Differences: Empirical Research And The Jury-Size Cases, Richard O. Lempert

Michigan Law Review

My point is not that verdict differences associated with jury size cannot be revealed through careful empirical investigation. Indeed, at several places in this article I will suggest research strategies likely to reveal such differences. Rather, it is that typical strategies of legal-impact research, such as those utilized in the Colgrove real-world studies, are unlikely to uncover differences associated with jury size however well they control for those plausible rival hypotheses that form the usual threats to the validity of impact research. The reason lies in the unamenability of the jury-size problem to the usual techniques of aggregate data analysis.

The Responsibility Of A Corporation: An Attempt At Implementation, Jan G. Deutsch

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

O'Connor V. Donaldson: The Death Of The Quid Pro Quo Argument For A Right To Treatment, Thomas P. Bliss

Cleveland State Law Review

On June 26, 1975, the Supreme Court was confronted with the controversial issue of whether there is a constitutionally guaranteed right to treatment for nondangerous persons who have been involuntarily and civilly committed to mental institutions. The Court avoided this long advocated issue and created the potential for future litigation by holding that a state cannot constitutionally confine a nondangerous individual solely for custodial care if such person can live safely in the outside world, without a finding of more than mere mental illness. This comment will discuss the decision in terms of the most volatile and frequently urged constitutional …

Behavior Modification: Winners In The Game Of Life, Richard L. Aynes

Cleveland State Law Review

It is because the officials who administer the penal institutions are firmly committed to "behavior control" as a method of penological re-form that it is important to consider this "new approach" and all of its ramifications. It is to that end that this note will consider the extent and intensity of behavior control programs; the legal ramifications of such programs; and prospects for the future.

Psychotherapy And Confidentiality, Ralph Slovenko

Cleveland State Law Review

Does the psychiatrist talk too much? Does the modern practice of psychiatry threaten confidentiality? Whatever disagreement may exist regarding the methods used by a therapist in the course of psycho-therapy, there is a near unanimity of opinion among therapists that nothing about a patient should be divulged to third parties. Allegedly, the patient's full participation, essential to psychotherapy, cannot be obtained without an assurance of absolute confidentiality.

Freedom Of Expression And The Mentally Disordered: Philosophical And Constitutional Perspectives, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Mental illness is usually described as an impaired ability to communicate effectively. Yet the societal response--both historically and under modem psychiatric practice--has been to retard, rather than encourage, the acquisition of linguistic skills. This impediment to normal social intercourse leaves individual interests in free expression ineffectuated; it concerns the legal profession because the government condones and enforces the restriction of first amendment rights in a potentially large segment of the population. This article examines the philosophical justification for free communication for the mentally handicapped. It further suggests a systematic application of the first amendment to the particular problems of the …

The Xyy Syndrome And The Judicial System, Paul Cheverie

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Local And Unified Services Act—An Analysis Of State And County Funding For New York State's Community Mental Healh Services, Linda Connor Kane

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mental Fitness Requirements For The Practice Of Law, Michael J. Place, Susan L. Bloom

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Progress In Involuntary Commitment, Ross E. Campbell

Washington Law Review

Against this background of increased judicial scrutiny, the Washington State Legislature overhauled Washington's involuntary commitment procedures early in 1973. The new Act, which is clearly the most progressive state enactment to date, could serve as a paradigm for future state legislation. Its passage provides a timely opportunity for a detailed analysis of the recent judicial trends in the involuntary commitment area and an evaluation of the Washington Legislature's treatment of the various constitutional problems inherent in such commitment. After briefly outlining the provisions of the new Washington Act, this comment discusses the general limitations, both substantive and procedural, which due …

Constitutional Law - Mental Health - A Patient Involuntary Civilly Committed To A State Mental Hospital Has A Constitutional Right To Treatment, Brian S. North

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

On The Voluntary Admission Of Minors, Louis Lessem

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The past several years have been witness to dramatic changes in both the theory and practice of civil commitment. In the law, this development has taken the form of increased concern for the protection of the personal liberties of the mentally ill while among members of the medical profession it has been experienced as a part of the process of opening up the back wards. Legislatures in many states have responded by revising their mental health statutes to establish more rigorous standards for commitment, periodic review of the status of committed patients, and better procedural safeguards throughout the commitment process. …

A Jury Experiment Reanalyzed, Shari Seidman Diamond

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Researchers in the behavioral sciences have watched with some pride as the courts have given increased attention to social science studies. Judicial interest in empirical studies is a desirable development but one not quite free of danger. The courts are not yet fully accustomed to dealing critically with such evidence. The United States Supreme Court ruled recently, in Colgrove v. Battin, that six-member juries in civil cases meet the seventh amendment requirement of trial by jury. This decision was not surprising in light of Williams v. Florida, in which the Court ruled that six jurors were sufficient to …

The Constitutional Right To Free Communication Of The Institutionalized Resident, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article comes from the notes and comments section of the North Carolina Central Law Journal from 1973.

Justified by the generic first amendment protection to unabridged expression and association, a United States citizen cannot be unreasonably denied the right to communicate by mail; by telephone; with legal counsel; with the opposite sex; with others. In most states where such a citizen becomes "mentally ill," the person may be involuntarily civilly committed. Although there is no justification for such a commitment beyond the fact that the individual is sick and is in need of care, often the individual's first amendment …

Mental Illness: A Legal Fiction, James H. Hardisty

Washington Law Review

Professor Hardisty examines the use of the term "mental illness" by the law, focusing upon competency and insanity defense tests. After determining that the term has no accepted medical definition, the author analyzes the necessity for legal usage of the term. Professor Hardisty concludes that the term "mental illness" should be deleted from the law.

Discovery And Presentation Of Evidence In Adversary And Nonadversary Proceedings, E. Allan Lind, John Thibaut, Laurens Walker

Michigan Law Review

In order to evaluate fully the advantage claimed for the adversary model we sought to add a third element that would test the hypothesis under a variety of conditions. The degree to which the evidence discovered in a case favors one party at the expense of another appeared to meet this criterion. This fact-distribution element is a pervasive condition of legal conflict resolution that, intuition suggests, may significantly influence information search and transmission. Further, this variable could be easily and accurately controlled by regulating the flow of favorable information acquired by the subjects during the experiment.

The remainder of this …

The Constitutional Dilemma Of A Person Predisposed To Criminal Behavior, John A. Chandler, Stanley F. Rose

Vanderbilt Law Review

The basic premise of American criminal jurisprudence is that individuals are capable of controlling their behavior.' The threat of incarceration is intended to be a deterrent to antisocial conduct. State and federal penal systems are called "correctional institutions"--implying that a person is incarcerated in order to modify unacceptable behavior. Criminal laws are drafted with goals of discouraging antisocial conduct,punishing and reforming the guilty, and protecting society against dangerous individuals. The first two purposes are served only if a person can respond to negative reinforcement by conducting himself in socially acceptable ways. Individuals incapable of controlling antisocial behavior are not accounted …

Constitutional Law—Due Process Requires That Limits Be Placed On Psychiatric Confinement Commensurate With The Procedural Safeguards Employed In Obtaining That Confinement., Christopher B. Ashton

Buffalo Law Review

McNeil v. Director, Patuxent Institution, 407 U.S. 245 (1972).

Ehrenzweig: Psychoanalytic Jurisprudence, Edgar Bodenheimer

Michigan Law Review

A Book Review of Psychoanalytic Jurisprudence by Albert A. Ehrenzweig

Debate, The Right To Treatment: Encounter And Synthesis, Aaron Twerski

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Right To Psychiatric Treatment: A Social-Legal Approach To The Plight Of The State Hospital Patient, Jonas Robitscher

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Police Initiated Emergency Psychiatric Detention In Michigan, Mark F. Mehlman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

While performing his duties a police officer may frequently be confronted with the behavior of an individual which threatens or has resulted in self-inflicted injury, or which poses an imminent threat to the safety of others. Under such circumstances an officer may determine that criminal arrest is inappropriate but that some form of restraint is necessary. Michigan has provided an alternative course of action by authorizing temporary emergency psychiatric detention of an individual whom a police officer deems to be "mentally ill and manifesting homicidal or other dangerous tendencies."

Alternatives To Civil Commitment Of The Mentally Ill: Practical Guides And Constitutional Imperatives, David L. Chambers

Articles

In 1930, Ford sold Fords only in black and states offered treatment for mental illness only in public mental hospitals. Today, new views of mental health care and mental health problems have begotten a galaxy of new treatment settings. Few cities can boast community-based programs sufficient to meet their needs, but almost all cities of any size rely increasingly on outpatient programs. The large public mental hospitals still stand, of course. Indeed, every year more people enter public hospitals than entered the year before. Over 400,000 Americans were admitted as inpatients to state and county mental hospitals last year.1 Partly …

Sentencing: The Use Of Psychiatric Information And Presentence Reports, Rutheford B. Campbell Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

It has become apparent that the two disciplines of law and psychiatry have a common "interface" in the field of criminal justice. Commentators generally agree that the administration of criminal justice is greatly aided by psychiatrists and psychiatric data. That is not to say, however, that the meeting of the disciplines has been without incident or misunderstanding. Problems have arisen because of divergent attitudes and goals of the professions. Some commentators say that the concerns of the two disciplines are not the same; others claim that much of the problem lies in the over-estimation of the certainty and reliability of …

Legal Kidnapping: A Look At Recent Decisions Involving The Validity Of Criminal Commitments To State Hospitals, Bernand J. Gartland

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Liability For Causing Suicide: A Synthesis Of Law And Psychiatry, Victor E. Schwartz

Vanderbilt Law Review

If suicide is a deliberate, intentional act by an individual, how can one person be "civilly liable for causing the suicide of another"? The paradox suggested by this question has caused many courts to shy away from imposing civil liability for causing suicide.' In certain situations,however, a growing number of courts are permitting recovery. Since suicide is on the increase both in numerical terms and in rank as a cause of death in the United States it can be expected that even more tort claims will be brought by parties attempting to fix civil responsibility on someone other than their …

Mental Illness And Criminal Commitment In Michigan, Grant H. Morris

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This article concentrates on one vital issue: to what extent are differences in treatment justified because of a mentally ill person's "criminal" involvement. While the article is primarily concerned with Michigan institutions and Michigan statutes, the discussion and the solutions proposed are in many respects applicable to all states of the Union. Not only must all states reevaluate their policies toward criminal commitment of the mentally ill in light of ever-changing medical and penal theory, but they must also consider the developing constitutional concepts in this area. These constitutional issues are raised here only to the extent necessary to alert …

Psychologist As Expert Witness In Psychiatric Questions, Elliot R. Levine

Cleveland State Law Review

When the seeking of truth and the dispensing of justice require Wan evaluation of a litigant's mental functioning, the courts have traditionally looked to medically trained psychiatrists to serve as expert witnesses. In his private practice the psychiatrist frequently uses the consultative services of a clinical psychologist because psychological tests are more quantitative, less subjective, and more sensitive to the nuances of personality deviation than are the traditional psychiatric evaluative techniques. The psychologist can offer to the court, as well as the medical profession can, the opportunity for the utilization of the most scientific means and methods of appraising personality. …

A Psycho-Analytic Peek At Conspiracy, Al Katz

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legal Significance Of The Mental Illness Criterion In The Civil Commitment Process, Hal R. Leiberman

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.