Mental Health Law Report articles from July 2004

Mental Health Law Report archives from July 2004

Fahrenheit 98.6.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... FAHRENHEIT 98.6. It's hard to believe that any future documentary by controversial director Michael Moore would bring more hype than Fahrenheit 9/11. But mental health legal advocates might want to begin calling attention to Moore's next...

Defendants must bring insanity defense for prosecution to request examination.
July 1, 2004... Bishop v. Caudill 2002-SC-0372-MR Supreme Court of Kentucky Courts can grant the prosecution an independent mental health examination of the defendant if the defendant is asserting an insanity defense, but not simply to determine...

Citing crane, court suggests clarifying definition in Illinois' sex offender laws.
July 1, 2004... People v. Masterson Docket No. 93579 Supreme Court of Illinois A sex offender cannot be involuntarily committed under an Illinois state law that does not define "mental disorder" even if the state has another law that does, the...

More suits against states possible as compliance remains elusive.(Olmstead: five years later)
July 1, 2004... The excitement surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court decision five years ago that supported the right to community-based services has largely diminished, and more lawsuits are expected to force laggard states to comply with the ruling. ...

Evidence of suicide.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... State v. Davis SC S49523 Supreme Court of Oregon The trial court erred by excluding evidence of a victim's statements that might have implied that the victim's death was a suicide, the state Supreme Court ruled. The excluded...

Restraint.(Case Briefs)
July 1, 2004... Lucero v. City of Albuquerque No. 02-2280 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals The court reversed a district court judgment denying qualified immunity to police officers who restrained a man with mental retardation and "significant...

Expert testimony.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... U.S. v. Mintz No. 02-3920 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals The court rejected a defendant's appeal based on the testimony from a doctor who determined that the defendant had the capacity to do harm. The defendant, Walter...

Ineffective assistance of counsel.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... In Re Washington Supreme Court Docket No. 02-330 Supreme Court of Vermont Defense counsel is not expected to perform mental health investigations in contravention of a client's wishes, so a defendant cannot later turn around and...

Mental health evidence.(Case Briefs)
July 1, 2004... Henry v. State No. SC02-804 Supreme Court of Florida The court affirmed a death sentence, finding that it was reasonable for a retrial attorney not to prevent mental health evidence if the evidence did not convince the jury in the...

Mental capacity.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Rios v. Mazzuca No. 03-2150 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals A three-judge panel rejected an inmate's petition for an extension because his mental illness made him unable to appreciate the necessity of filing a habeas petition...

Evidence in mental illness trial.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... State v. Dame C8-02-1597 Supreme Court of Minnesota The district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting autopsy and crime-scene photographs in the mental illness phase of a trial because the photographs were relevant to...

Medicaid reimbursement.(Case Briefs)
July 1, 2004... In Re Spano Index No. 1347-03 Supreme Court of New York, Albany County The state improperly sought reimbursement from a county that had billed it for Medicaid expenses after the state was forced to repay the federal government for...

Downward departure.(Case Briefs)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... U.S. v. Hawkins No. 02-1672 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals When considering a sentence, a district court does not have to parse out language on the need to protect the public from language on the defendant's threat of violence,...

Right to community-based services had origins in newly settled lawsuit.
July 1, 2004... Before there was the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and before there was Olmstead, there was Martin v. Taft. And now that case will become history. Fifteen years after it was first filed, the landmark lawsuit in Ohio for...

Sex offenders end up in nursing home, prompting legal action by Minnesota.
July 1, 2004... The delicate legal balance between the rights of sex offenders and the duty to warn the people around them has hit a Minnesota nursing home. State Attorney General Mike Hatch (D) is suing a nursing home in Minneapolis, alleging it failed...

Kentucky officials settle lawsuit, agree to reassess Medicaid claims.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... A settlement that reopens Medicaid claims could give pause to states seeking to save money by altering eligibility for long-term care. Approximately 3,500 people who lost or were denied Medicaid benefits when Kentucky altered its...

Unexpected help.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... UNEXPECTED HELP -- As part of its "ongoing quality review" process, the Social Security Administration has turned up about 300,000 current Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries who should have also been getting Title II cash benefits....

Costs surpass stigma.(mental health treatment)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... COSTS SURPASS STIGMA -- Although the stigma of seeking mental health treatment remains fairly strong, the American Psychological Association (APA) has found that respondents now blame behavioral health plan costs (81 percent) and lack of...

Suit tackles safety of antidepressants, methodology of pharmaceutical industry.
July 1, 2004... A lawsuit against the maker of the antidepressant drug Paxil has prompted the nation's most prominent mental health law organization to point out the limits of medication. State of New York v. GlaxoSmithKline, No. 04401707, differentiates...

Debate over use of drugs in children gets philosophical as much as legal.
July 1, 2004... While some legal advocates seek to rein in pharmaceutical companies that promote psychotropic drugs for children (see previous story), other groups are fighting efforts to challenge psychiatry entirely. The National Alliance for the...

FOA, initiatives popular with advocates folded into far-reaching disability bill.(Legislative Update)(Family Opportunity Act)
July 1, 2004... Some legislation long championed by the mental health advocacy community might finally make it into law. A number of previously separate initiatives are included in H.R. 1811, including President Bush's Money Follows the Person (MFTP)...

The National Legal Aid and Defender Association.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The National Legal Aid and Defender Association meets July 21-24 in Los Angeles. The conference includes a track on Social Security law. Contact: NLADA, (202) 452-0620, www.nlada.org.