Slobogin C
University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville 32611.
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1994 Jul;45(7):685-9. doi: 10.1176/ps.45.7.685.
Three major legal mechanisms exist for providing involuntary community treatment to people who are violent and mentally disabled: outpatient commitment, preventive commitment, and conditional release from a hospital. In most states, predicted deterioration is either the explicit or the de facto criterion for involuntary community treatment. However, the constitutionality of this standard has been the subject of considerable debate, centering on whether involuntary treatment in the community requires a showing of imminent dangerousness and an overt act of dangerousness and whether a person who is not dangerous solely because of treatment may be committed. The author suggests that the predicted deterioration standard is constitutional, but only if it is accompanied by limitations on the duration of commitment and proof that involuntary treatment is necessary to prevent danger to self or others. The author also discusses whether a person committed under the predicted deterioration standard has the right to refuse treatment and whether persons hospitalized after being committed to involuntary community treatment should receive a hearing.
门诊治疗承诺、预防性承诺以及从医院有条件释放。在大多数州，预计病情恶化要么是明确的，要么是事实上的非自愿社区治疗标准。然而，这一标准的合宪性一直是大量辩论的主题，焦点在于社区非自愿治疗是否需要证明有迫在眉睫的危险性和危险的公开行为，以及仅因接受治疗而无危险性的人是否可被收治。作者认为，预计病情恶化标准是符合宪法的，但前提是承诺期限有限制，且有证据证明非自愿治疗对于防止对自身或他人造成危险是必要的。作者还讨论了依据预计病情恶化标准被收治的人是否有权拒绝治疗，以及被非自愿社区治疗收治后住院的人是否应获得听证机会。
