Rubie Rogers v. Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health
Massachusetts Supreme Court
458 N.E.2d 308 (1983)
- Written by Monica Rottermann , JD
Facts
The First Circuit Court of Appeals certified nine questions to the Massachusetts Supreme Court related to the rights of involuntarily committed patients to refuse antipsychotic drugs. The court found the following: (1) involuntary commitment is not a finding of incompetence; (2) incompetence requires a legal finding made by a judge; (3) competency issues may be raised in probate, superior, or juvenile courts; (4) before forcibly medicating incompetent patients, the court must employ the substituted-judgment standard and consider the factors from Guardianship of Roe; (5) the treatment plan may only be approved by a judge after notice and hearing, and the guardian must monitor the treatment; (6) no state interest is compelling enough to allow forced antipsychotic medication outside of an emergency; (7) the state’s police power only allows forced medication in emergencies; (8) an emergency includes prevention of “immediate, substantial, and irreversible deterioration of a serious mental illness”; and (9) if doctors plan to continue with the course of treatment under that standard, the patient must first be found incompetent.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Abrams, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.