Mental Health Law
Definition of civil commitment
Civil commitment is a legal process where a court decides if a person alleged to have a mental illness can be hospitalized against their will. In DC, this process is overseen by the Family Court and the Mental Health Commission. Cases may arise when a person is picked up in crisis and hospitalized for emergency evaluation; a family member, doctor, or government agency files a petition for commitment; or a defendant in a criminal case is found incompetent to stand trial and referred for mental health review.
Your rights while in civil commitment
The right to counsel: Every respondent must have a lawyer at each stage of the process.
Prompt hearings: Courts must review the legality of emergency detentions quickly.
Mental Health Commission review: A hearing before a judge and mental health professionals determines whether commitment is warranted.
Court oversight: Any recommendation of commitment can be challenged in court, including trial by judge or jury.
Periodic review: Even after commitment, individuals have the right to ongoing medical review and to petition for release.
How the Firm Can Help
The firm visits clients in psychiatric hospitals in order to make sure they are meaningfully exercising their rights. Then, the firm strategizes with the client as to challenging involuntary detention. Results may include the government abandoning the case and the firm aggressively challenging the government's case in court.
Getting Your Case to Mental Health Court
What Mental Health Court Does
Mental Health Court reviews the government's petition, which alleges that the client is mentally ill, dangerous, the mental illness causes the dangerousness, and hospitalization is the least restrictive means to protect the safety of the client and community.
Mental Health Court's Goal
Instead of focusing on punishment, the court collaborates with defense attorneys, mental health professionals, and social service providers to create a treatment plan tailored to each participant.
How the Firm Can Help
The firm diligently researches statutory and case law in order to attack the government's case; reviews the government's evidence; hires investigators to gather our own evidence; and persuasively presents the case to the court.
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